tihvaxy  of  ^he  theological  Seminar;? 

PRINCETON  .  NEW  JERSEY 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ROBERT  ELLIOTT  SPEER 


!»• 


BV  2063  .L86  1918 
Love,  J.  F.  1859-1928 
The  union  movement 


nrc^/^U^ 


►1*=^ 


The  Union  Movement 


v/ 

By  J.  R  LOVE,D.D. 

Corresponding  Secretary  Foreign  Mission  Board 

Southern  Baptist  Convention 

Author  of 

"The  Unique  Message  and  Universal 

Mission  of  Christianity," 

"The  Mission  of  Our  Nation," 

etc.,  etc. 


Sunday  School  Board  Southern  Baptist  Convention 
Nashville,  Tennessee. 


Copyright,  191 8 

Sunday  School  Board  Southern  Baptist  Convention 

Nashville,  Tennessee 


TABLE  OF  CX)NTENTS. 


Preface. 


CHAPTEK  I. 
Why  This  Discussion? 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Strenth  of  the  Movement. 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Southern  Baptist  Attitude  Defined. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Specific  Issues  Raised. 

CHAPTER  V. 
Some  Planks  in  the  Platform  Examined. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
A  Basis  of  Union. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
A  Feasible  Co-operation. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Program. 

ADDENDA. 

(3) 


PEEFACE. 

In  the  following  pages  will  be  found  a  discussion  of  the 
moot  question  of  the  union  and  cooperation  of  Christian 
forces  in  Missions. 

The  writer  here  confesses  the  desire  that  what  he  has 
written  shall  be  read  before  judgment  is  passed  upon  it.  If 
this  is  done,  he  is,  of  course,  ready  to  receive  judgment.  All 
questions  which  are  enswathed  in  sentiment  are  inflammable. 
Christian  union  and  inter-denominationalism  belong  to  this 
class  of  subjects.  Every  page  has  been  written  under  the 
restraint  of  a  full  consciousness  that,  so  much  having  been 
written  in  the  advocacy  of  federation  in  mission  work,  the 
Movement  having  gained  such  headway,  and  the  names  of 
so  many  good  and  honored  men  being  identified  with  it,  much 
sentiment  exists  and  prejudices  can  be  easily  aroused  by  a 
statement  of  tJie  case  for  denomination alism.  And  yet 
the  hope  is  indulged  that  most  Christian  men  are  fair-minded 
and  will  suspend  judgment  until  they  have  given  a  dispas- 
sionate reading  to  the  neglected  side  of  a  great  question. 

The  discussion  is  conducted  mainly  from  the  viewpoint 
of  one  denomination,  that  of  Baptists  and  of  Southern  Bap- 
tists in  particular;  but  in  many  respects  the  arguments  used 
will  hold  as  a  defense  of  denominationalism  in  general,  which 
is  definitely  threatened  by  the  Movement  which  is  under 
review. 

Let  the  reader  keep  firmly  and  constantly  in  mind  the 
point  that  Christian  fellowship  and  brotherly  sentiment  are 
not  the  matters  now  under  discussion ;  nor  even  the  ordinary 
and  normal  denominational  relationships.  Perhaps  the 
severest  indictment  of  the  Movement  is  that  it  has  disturbed 

(5) 


6  Preface 

peace  within  the  denominations  and  is  interrupting  the  usual 
relations  between  denominations  by  assuming  to  deal  with 
policies  and  matters  of  administration  which  have  been  en- 
trusted to  denominational  mission  boards  alone,  and  which 
they  have  no  authority  to  delegate.  The  agitation  to  which 
the  Union  Movement  is  giving  rise  makes  it  important  that 
thoughtful  men  shall  draw  distinctions  between  inter-Chris- 
tian relationships  and  inter-denominationalism,  and  between 
the  latter  and  extra-denominationalism  and  anti-denomina- 
tionalism.  There  has  been  much  indiscrimination  just  here. 
The  writer  of  these  pages  is  a  champion  of  the  most  cordial 
and  becoming  Christian  amenities;  his  views  concerning 
these  denominational  relationships  are  expounded  in  the  fol- 
lowing chapters.  If  those  who  have  confounded  the  Chris- 
tian relationships  with  this  particular  Movement  can  sepa- 
rate the  two,  they  will  more  fairly  judge  the  merit  of  the 
discussion  which  follows. 

J.  F.  L. 
Richmond,  Virginia. 


CHAPTER  I. 

WHY  THIS  DISCUSSION? 

Within  a  very  recent  period  there  has  been  produced  a 
remarkably  large  literature  in  the  interest  of  co-operative 
endeavor  in  mission  work  and  the  union  of  Christian  forces 
under  certain  auspices.  Among  the  many  volumes  which, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  are  devoted  to  the  advancement 
of  this  federation  movement,  some  have  had  wide  circula- 
tion as  mission  study  books.  Singularly  enough,  not  one  of 
these  books,  is,  we  believe,  issued  under  the  auspices  of  any 
denominational  mission  board,  and  not  one  has  been  written 
to  state  the  case  for  denominationalism,  or  to  challenge  this 
Movement  which  is  fostering  mission  policies  on  a  great 
scale  for  the  denominations  and  their  regularly  constituted 
agencies.  With  the  exception  of  short,  sporadic  articles  and 
editorials  which  have  occasionally  appeared  in  denomina- 
tional weeklies,  the  case  for  the  denominations  has  not  been 
stated.  General  conventions,  synods  and  conferences  have 
not,  to  our  knowledge,  been  consulted,  although  their  prin- 
ciples, missionary  policies  and  administrative  functions  are 
involved.  Almost  without  exception,  these  books  have  been 
written  by  those  who  are  connected  with  the  Continuation 
work  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  or  allied  organizations, 
and  have  been  published  under  affliated  auspices.  This  litera- 
ture expounds  the  Union  Movement  which  is  headed  by  the 
Continuation  Committee  and  the  Foreign  Mission  Conference 
of  North  America  and  presses  the  issues  to  the  door  of  every 
missionary  church  and  organization  in  America. 

Union  and  cooperation  on  the  basis  set  forth  in  this  lit- 
erature is  not  to  be  confounded  with  unorganized  friendly 

(7) 


8  The  Union  Movement 

relations  which  commonly  exist  among  Christians  of  all 
creeds.  The  question  raised  is  that  of  co-operation  with  a 
Movement  the  policies  of  which  have  been  fixed  by  a  compara- 
tively small  company  of  men  and  offered  to  others  as  a  basis 
of  cooperation,  and  with  the  view  to  effecting  the  most  com- 
prehensive union. 

This  Movement  has  given  us  a  new  missionary  leadership, 
and  it  has  assumed  extraordinary  prerogatives.  We  predict 
that  other  denominations  besides  Southern  Baptists  will 
shortly  check  the  freedom  with  which  an  extra-denomina- 
tional organization  proceeds  to  modify  their  missionary 
policies  and  prescribe  the  shade  and  gauge  of  their  denomi- 
nationalism  on  the  home  and  foreign  fields.  Indeed,  leading 
men  in  some  of  the  denominations  are  already  sounding  an 
alarm  at  the  extraordinary  assumption  of  authority  and  in- 
terference with  denominational  policies.  Dr.  Arthur  J. 
Brown,  a  staunch  defender  of  the  Movement,  acknowledges 
that  "the  question  to  be  dealt  with  goes  straight  to  the  heart 
of  the  whole  denominational  propaganda."  ( Unity  and  Mis- 
sions, hy  Arthur  J.  Brown,  D.D.,  page  258.) 

Such  facts  would  seem  to  be  sufficient  justification  for  the 
present  discussion.  Matters  have  reached  the  point  where 
silence  is  practical  acquiescence  in  the  policies  of  a  Move- 
ment which,  if  unchecked  for  ten  years,  will  not  leave  any 
evangelical  denomination  true  to  its  present  type.  That 
statement  is  made  with  deliberation,  and  we  offer  for  its 
support  such  facts  only  as  the  friends  of  the  Movement  have 
furnished  us. 

The  following  pages  were  written  after  a  somewhat  care- 
ful survey  of  the  literature  on  the  subject,  opportunity  for 
pretty  wide  observation,  some  knowledge  of  conditions  which 
the  Movement  has  produced,  quite  general  familiarity  with 
the  views,  sentiments  and  convictions  of  at  least  one  of  the 
denominations — that  whose  faith  and  work  claim  the  writer's 


The  Union  Movement  9 

loyalty^ — and  after  that  denomination  has  repeatedly  and 
explicitly  defined  its  attitude  to  the  matter  at  issne.  Believ- 
ing that  the  time  has  come  when,  for  the  good  of  our  common 
Christianity  and  all  concerned,  and  in  the  interest  of  sound 
and  effective  missionary  policies,  there  ought  to  be  more 
than  a  one-sided  discussion  of  this  question  which  is  agitat- 
ing many  minds  and  that  there  should  be  offered  more  than 
definition  of  the  attitude  of  Southern  Baptists  to  the  Move- 
ment, I  have  written  what  is  here  submitted  to  the  public. 

The  writer's  controlling  desire  and  purpose  have  been 
to  serve  the  cause  of  Missions.  He  has  seen  his  opportunity 
to  do  this  in  the  present  case: 

1.  By  helping  Southern  Baptists  to  understand  more 
fully  and  generally  than  they  do  the  issues  w^hich  have  been 
raised ;  by  influencing,  as  far  as  possible,  the  temper  of  their 
sentiment  and  speech  in  dealing  with  a  subject  upon  which 
most  of  them  have  already  very  strong  convictions;  by  pro- 
moting unity  within  the  denomination  itself,  and  by  calling 
upon  pastors  and  other  leaders  of  our  Baptist  people  every- 
where to  help  turn  the  united  powders  of  our  great  numbers 
upon  a  constructive  denominational  missionary  program. 

There  is  no  line  of  union  endeavor  in  which  a  Baptist 
may  engage  which  presents  such  possibilities  of  fruitful  serv- 
ice as  that  of  striving  to  unify  his  own  people  for  positive 
Christian  effort.  United  and  active,  the  nearly  three  mil- 
lion Southern  Baptists  would  be  a  powerful  missionary 
force;  and,  if  all  the  Baptists  white  and  colored  of  all  sec- 
tions could  see  eye  to  eye  and  strive  together  for  the  further- 
ance of  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  the  combined  influence  and 
strength  of  the  more  than  seven  million  American  Baptists 
would  be  incalculable.  What  shall  it  profit  any  Baptist,  or 
Baptist  enterprise,  at  home  or  abroad,  if  vre  gain  fraternal 
and  cooperative  relations  with  other  people  and  disturb  these 
relations  in  our  own  denomination  ?    Provision  for  the  needs 


10  The  Union  Movement 

and  the  guarantee  of  success  for  our  missionary  work,  our 
various  boards,  newspapers,  colleges,  seminaries,  and  all 
other  institutions  at  home,  as  well  as  all  the  work  abroad, 
depend  upon  the  unification  and  enlistment  of  our  great  num- 
bers. All  our  enterprises  are  bound  up  with  the  loyalty  of 
our  people  and  their  sense  of  responsibility  for  our  denomina- 
tional program.  Whoever  raises  a  voice  which  divides  Bap- 
tists in  favor  of  union  institutions  abroad  will  find  that  his 
voice  has  lost  power  to  rally  their  combined  support  for  any 
institution  at  home  or  abroad.  There  is  not  an  agency 
through  which  Baptists  try  to  serve  Christ  and  promote  his 
kingdom  on  earth,  that  must  not  find  its  greatest  usefulness 
in  the  confidence  and  support  of  a  united  denomination. 
The  right  sort  of  Baptist  does  not  make  it  his  business  to 
create  either  inter-denominational  alliances  or  denomina- 
tional coteries.  The  man  who  through  sentiment  seeks  to 
lead  his  brethren  away  from  the  policies  of  the  denomination 
and  he  also  who  for  a  personal  following  seeks  to  lead  them 
away  from  the  organized  work  of  the  denomination  is  dis- 
loyal. 

The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  has  given  us  the  key 
to  a  unifying  program  for  Baptists.  By  respecting  the  voice 
of  a  democratic  majority  on  the  one  hand  and  by  proper 
regard  for  the  feelings  of  individuals  on  the  other,  we  can 
work  on  such  a  platform  as  that  which  has  been  adopted  by 
the  Convention.  There  should  be  no  bolting  and  no  hector- 
ing. There  should  be  unity  and  good  feeling  within  the 
denomination.  Any  course  which  sets  conservative  against 
progressive,  one  class,  camp,  or  section  of  our  people  against 
another,  will  prove  disastrous  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  If  we 
should  develop  leadership  on  the  home  and  foreign  fields 
which  ignores  these  simple  facts,  it  would  be  at  the  cost  of 
denominational  harmony  and  would  entail  irreparable  loss 
to  the  missionary  enterprise  in  general.     My  plea  is    first 


The  Union  Movement  11 

of  all,  that  we  shall  by  wisdom,  consideration,  tactfulness, 
patience  and  consistent  regard  for  the  voice  of  our  demo- 
cratic people  expressed  through  the  Convention,  seek  to  har- 
monize sentiment,  unify  the  forces,  enlist  and  direct  the 
activities  of  Southern  Baptists,  and  thereby  make  our  largest 
possible  contribution  to  the  common  Christian  task  of  evan- 
gelizing a  lost  world.  I  would  that  no  voice  which  is  raised 
in  defense  of  our  time-honored  principles  and  their  applica- 
tion to  our  mission  work  should  disregard  the  sensitive  ears 
of  those  who  are  in  the  minority,  and  that  no  voice  which 
calls  us  to  other  alliances  at  the  expense  of  a  service  within 
and  through  the  denomination  should  be  heeded. 

It  is  unseemly  that  we  should  allow  an  extra-denomina- 
tional Movement  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  in  the  denom- 
ination. When  the  whole  situation  is  understood,  I  have 
little  fear  that  such  will  be  the  case;  for  it  is  my  opinion, 
confirmed  by  residence  in  several  centers  of  Baptist  influence 
and  a  dozen  years  of  general  intercourse  with  Baptists  of  all 
sections,  that  there  does  not  exist  any  radical  difference 
among  them.  There  is  a  rare  homogeneity  of  faith  among 
American  Baptists.  They  believe  and  speak  the  same  things 
with  only  slight  variation  of  accent  and  intonation,  the 
strained  voices  of  a  very  few  to  the  contrary  notwithstand- 
ing. They  have  been  taught  with  gratifying  success  the 
poetry  of  a  true  and  common  gospel,  and  one  great  duty  of 
our  leaders  is  to  train  all  our  people  to  sing  it  to  a  winning 
tune  until  their  matchless  message  shall  charm  the  world 
with  the  unison  of  its  spiritual  melody,  as  well  as  with  its 
scriptural  soundness.  I  esteem  it  to  be  a  missionary  service 
of  high  order  to  have  some  part,  if  I  may,  in  securing  such  a 
result. 

2.  I  see  an  opportunity  to  help  the  missionary  cause  if  I 
succeed  in  interpreting  to  others  the  action  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  and  the  latent  sentiments  of  our  Baptist 


12  The  Union  Movement 

hosts.  In  definition  tlie  Convention's  statement  of  its  posi- 
tion is  unmistakably  plain,  but  there  has  been  misinterpreta- 
tion of  the  denominational  spirit  in  taking  so  firm  a  stand 
on  a  matter  so  full  of  sentiment  and  in  opposition  to  views 
which  are  held  by  good  men  in  other  denominations.  I  think 
that  this  misunderstanding  is  due  to  a  hasty  reading  of  the 
Statement  put  forth,  and  to  the  further  fact  that  a  situa- 
tion which  is  dominated  by  sentiment  is  naturally  sensitive. 
Christian  union  is  aflame  with  sentiment,  within  reason  and 
Scripture  a  very  beautiful  and  worthy  sentiment,  but  senti- 
ment nevertheless;  and  great  caution  is  needed  in  crossing 
a  sentiment  or  its  very  opposite  will  be  aroused. 

An  indifi'erent  policy  cannot  win  nor  even  a  definite 
policy  which  is  not  understood.  It  is  not  enough  that  the 
Convention  should  define  its  attitude,  and  in  doing  so 
present  a  missionary  program  consistent  with  the  principles 
of  the  denomination  at  home,  and  that  all  agencies  and 
agents  of  the  Convention  should  seek  to  execute  this  policy. 
It  is  equally  important  that  the  whole  brotherhood,  and  those 
who  represent  the  Movement  for  Christian  union,  concern- 
ing which  the  Convention  has  defined  its  attitude,  should 
understand  this.  It  is  almost  as  desirable  that  this  action 
be  fully  understood  by  good  men  without  the  denomination 
who  are  interested  in  the  missionary  enterprise  as  it  is  that 
it  be  respected  by  those  who  represent  the  Convention;  for, 
otherwise,  this  action  will  fail  to  accomplish  its  purpose,  and 
serious  trouble  will  follow.  Any  inference  that  the  Con- 
vention has  not  decided  upon  the  questions  at  issue  and  upon 
a  definite  policy  will  make  for  confusion,  and  any  misinter- 
pretation of  that  action  or  disregard  for  it  by  the  friends 
of  the  Movement  will  defeat  the  wishes  of  all  good  men  that 
the  usual  peace  and  fraternal  relations  may  be  maintained. 

Southern  Baptists  cannot  be  classed  with  mere  dissenters, 
nor  should  their  position  be  represented  as  hostile  to  Chris- 


The  Union  Movement  13 

tian  fellowship.  The  Statement  which  gives  the  Con- 
vention's attitude  is  explicit  of  the  conscience  and  policy  of 
the  Convention,  but,  because  of  its  brevity  and  concise  defini- 
tion, it  is  liable  to  be  misunderstood,  has  been  misunderstood, 
as  to  its  spirit.  It  is  unfortunate  that  anyone  within  or  with- 
out the  denomination  should  conclude  that  Southern  Baptists 
are  without  either  convictions  or  courtesy.  Misunderstand- 
ing has  come  of  not  understanding. 

It  would  certainly  seem  appropriate  that  a  representative 
Christian  body,  such  as  is  constituted  by  the  more  than  two 
and  a  half-million  white  Baptists  of  the  South,  should  frankly 
inform  their  Christian  brethren  concerning  a  decision  reached 
upon  a  matter  with  which  others  are  concerned,  and  by  prior 
action  upon  which  others  have  made  such  decision  necessary. 
It  is  also  desirable  that  so  large  a  body  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tians as  Southern  Baptists  should,  if  they  have  a  mind  of 
their  own,  make  at  least  a  small  contribution  to  a  subject 
on  which  has  been  created  so  large  a  body  of  literature. 
The  necessary  brevity  of  the  Statement  passed  to  record  by 
the  Convention,  the  emphasis  which  it  thus  necessarily  placed 
upon  dissent,  and  the  fact  that  this  is,  to  the  general  public, 
lost  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Convention,  affords  strong  reasons 
for  a  somewhat  more  ample  statement  of  the  views  which 
are  held  by  the  denomination  upon  the  matters  at  issue. 
The  definitions  of  that  paper  need  to  be  properly  set  in  the 
atmosphere  of  Christian  sentiment  and  given  suitable  per- 
spective. The  very  brief  Christian  salutation  with  which 
that  paper  begins  and  ends  should  have  amplification  if  the 
position  of  the  Convention  is  to  have  a  fair  appraisement. 
The  paper  is  definitive  as  to  certain  issues  raised  in  the  pro- 
gram of  the  Federation  Movement,  but  it  is  not  fully  ex- 
pository of  the  spirit  and  attitude  of  Southern  Baptists 
toward  Christian  men  and  women  as  such,  and,  in  its  brief 
form,  it  will  not,  to  many  readers,  appear  to  be  a  thoroughly 


14  The  Union  Movement 

positive  and  constructive  missionary  document.  It  is  frankly 
protestant.  It  announces  dissent  as  to  a  certain  missionary 
program,  and  is,  by  reasonable  implication,  a  missionary  pro- 
gram in  itself,  but  amplification  is  needed  both  as  to  its 
spirit  and  its  positive  missionary  character.  Southern  Bap- 
tists decline  to  be  committed  to  unsound,  unsafe  and  seri- 
ously objectionable  missionary  policies,  but  they  do,  even 
by  dissent,  commit  themselves  to  a  thoroughgoing  and  highly 
responsible  denominational  program.  When  the  statement 
is  understood,  and  the  merits  of  the  issues  which  it  faces  are 
realized,  it  will,  I  venture  to  predict,  be  esteemed  as  the  pro- 
nouncement of  men  with  missionary  purpose,  vision,  passion 
and  conscience. 

The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  is  girt  and  vital  with 
religious  conviction,  but  it  is  also  wafted  by  Christian  senti- 
ment. When  dissent  is  necessary,  it  has  the  courage  to  say 
so,  but  it  does  this  in  consideration  for  other  Christians.  A 
close  study  of  the  Statement  of  the  Convention's  attitude  to 
union  efi'ort  in  mission  work  will  discover  this.  We  may  say 
with  confidence  that  there  is  not  among  us  a  man  big  enough 
and  influential  enough  to  carry  through  any  session  of  the 
Convention  a  pronouncement  on  Christian  union  which  com- 
promises the  denomination  at  the  points  defined  in  that  state- 
ment, or  one  that  is  framed  in  disrespect  and  discourtesy 
for  other  Christian  people.  Southern  Baptists  believe  in 
holding  the  truth  in  love.  The  Statement  has  in  it  defini- 
tion for  those  who  are  uncertain  of  the  Convention's  policy 
in  the  conduct  of  its  mission  work,  and,  even  as  it  stands, 
reassurance  for  those  who  may  think  that  conviction  and 
Christian  courtesy  are  incompatible. 

There  is  in  the  statement  neither  concession  to  the  inter- 
denominational liberalist  nor  the  denominational  feudist. 
It  fixes  a  limitation  upon  the  actions  of  representatives  of 
the  Convention's  boards,  but  it  does  not  fix  bounds  for  their 


The  Union  Movement  15 

Christian  spirit  and  love.  Kightly  understood,  it  should 
promote  soundness,  bigness  and  brotherliness  among  South- 
ern Baptists.  It  takes  care  of  our  denominational  identity 
without  repressing  worthy  Christian  sentiment.  It  removes 
disputes  concerning  denominational  boundary  lines  so  that 
we  can  live  in  neighborly  relations  with  other  Christians. 
It  should  serve  as  a  guard  against  compromising  alliances 
and  as  a  guide  to  effective  and  supplementary  missionary 
effort.  Baptists  can  render  the  greatest  help  to  those  who 
carry  missionary  burdens  by  faithfully  carrying  their  own. 
While  doing  this,  we  need  not  restrain  a  smile  for  a  brother 
who  is  also  under  the  burden.  We  need  neither  to  throw 
away  our  convictions  in  order  to  be  courteous,  nor  our 
courtesy  in  the  effort  to  be  frank. 

The  position  taken  by  Southern  Baptists  is  grounded  in 
reason,  deep  concern  for  this  greatest  Christian  enterprise, 
and  in  loyalty  to  Him  whose  Commission  the  Convention 
seeks  to  execute.  Sectarian  bigotry  and  sectional  narrow- 
ness have  no  rating  among  my  people.  We  are  raising  no 
issue  with  our  brethren  of  other  denominations,  nor  with 
the  men  who  have  made  a  missionary  program  which  we 
cannot  adopt;  we  are  meeting  issues  which  they  have 
raised.  If  the  pressure  of  circumstances  forces  our 
principles  into  clearer  distinctness,  we  shall,  in  such 
case,  abide  the  decision  of  the  enlightened  Christian 
conscience  upon  the  merits  of  the  issue.  We  are  simply 
continuing  in  our  accustomed  way  with  usual  good  will  for 
all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  in  sincerity.  Southern  Baptists 
have  not  been  seized  by  any  sudden  spasm  of  obstinacy  or 
intolerance;  it  is  only  their  normal  life  in  contrast  with  a 
novel  display  of  sentimentality  that  makes  them  appear  to 
have  been  so  affected.  Southern  Baptists  are  tremendously 
of  one  mind  on  the  matter  of  conducting  their  mission  work 
in  their  own  way,  and  on  lines  long  established  and  con- 


16  The  Union  Movement 

sistent  with  their  ancient  and  present  policies  at  home,  but 
I  dare  say  that  they  were  never  in  a  more  fraternal  mood 
toward  other  Christian  people  and  denominations  than  they 
are  at  the  present  time^  nor  more  steadfast  in  their  allegiance 
to  the  principle  of  religious  liberty  of  which  Baptists  were 
the  first  and  have  been  the  most  constant  champions. 

It  would  be  a  Christian  act  and  a  missionary  service  if 
the  friends  of  the  new  order  of  missionary  advance  could  be 
awakened  not  only  to  understand  the  Southern  Baptist  view 
and  spirit,  but  also  to  realize  that  the  program  which  has 
been  made  for  the  Union  Movement  is  fraught  with  evils  for 
foreign  missions  and  evangelical  Christianity  quite  as  great 
as  any  which  it  seeks  to  cure.  Discussing  certain  phases  of 
this  matter  in  an  illuminating  article  in  the  Watchman-Ex- 
aminer, Dr.  Frank  M.  Goodchild  says :  "A  breakdown  of  our 
Baptist  work  will  be  the  ultimate  result  of  such  cooperation 
is  the  conviction  of  many  of  our  own  people  and  of  friends  in 
the  other  denominations  as  well." 

Sometime  ago  Prof.  Frederick  L.  Anderson,  of  the  New- 
ton Theological  Institution,  Massachusetts,  made  an  address 
on  what  Massachusetts  Baptists  must  do  to  be  saved.  A 
part  of  that  address  is  so  pertinent  to  the  present  discussion 
we  dare  to  quote  it.  He  says :  "The  first  peril  is  denomina- 
tional disintegration.  I  cannot  go  into  details.  All  I  have  to 
say  is  that  those  who  carelessly  weaken  our  organization  in 
the  face  of  our  foreign  and  Roman  Catholic  peril,  those  who 
seek  to  disintegrate  the  second  largest  regiment  in  our  army 
just  as  the  battle  grows  intense  are  committing  nothing  less 
than  a  religious  crime.  A  .  .  .  leader  in  another  state,  whom 
you  all  delight  to  honor,  wrote  me  recently  that  in  the  pres- 
ent situation  he  could  think  of  no  disaster  to  the  religious 
life  of  our  country  so  serious  as  the  disintegration  of  one 
of  the  free  churches.  Action  of  this  sort  is  not  a  mere 
matter  of  personal  whim  to  be  decided  by  sentimental  con- 


The  Union  Movement  17 

siderations  and  temporary  advantage;  but  it  involves  great 
intei-ests,  the  religious  relations  of  the  individuals  of  our 
whole  denomination,  the  disposal  of  millions  of  contribu- 
tions and  trust  funds,  of  millions  of  church  property  and 
educational  endowments,  the  future  of  this  state  and,  in 
the  foreign  field,  the  fate  of  races  and  generations.  You 
cannot  transfer  a  great  denomination  and  distribute  it  in 
other  camps  without  a  loss  of  at  least  33  per  cent  of  its 
eflSciency;  and  such  a  waste  of  efi'ectiveness  at  the  present 
moment  would  be  almost  a  calamity.  What  we  all  desire 
is  that,  in  the  united  Protestant  Church  of  the  future,  we 
may  see  our  principles  safeguarded  and  triumphant;  but 
the  time  for  that  is  still  a  generation  or  two  ahead.  In  the 
meantime,  true  religious  statesmanship  demands  a  firm,  con- 
servative denominational  policy,  for  you  will  never  get  your 
principles  recognized  by  the  future  united  Protestantism  un- 
less there  is  organization  behind  them.  Principles  without 
organized  support  are  negligible.  One  word  more.  Let  us 
emphasize  our  great  principles  of  religious  liberty,  democracy 
and  the  voluntariness  and  spirituality  of  Christianity  which 
are  so  exactly  fitted  to  meet  the  present  situation." 

3.  If,  in  addition  to  an  interpretation  of  the  action  of 
the  Convention  to  other  Christians  and  to  the  friends  of  the 
Movement  against  the  policies  of  which  it  is  a  protest,  we 
could,  by  a  review  of  the  policies  themselves,  show  these 
friends  that  they  are  not  serving  and  will  not  secure  the 
laudable  ends  which  they  seek,  this  in  itself  would  be  a 
foreign  mission  achievement.  In  pursuit  of  this  end  I  have 
examined  certain  planks  in  the  platform  of  the  Movement 
and  pointed  out  with  candor,  and  I  hope  with  courtesy,  their 
insecurity. 

Whatever  be  the  effect  of  what  I  have  written,  these 
pages  have  been  produced  under  the  compulsion  of  such 
motives  as  have  been  cited  above.  They  will,  at  least,  be 
2 


18  The  Union  Movement 

looked  upon  as  one  man's  effort  to  set  forth  the  case  for 
denominationalism  against  the  great  odds  of  a  voluminous 
literature  for  inter-  and  anti-denominationalism  as  the  rally- 
ing principle  in  mission  work.  No  one  will,  I  judge,  deny 
that  denominationalism  has  a  right  to  be  heard  after  so  much 
has  been  said  for  the  other  side.  Some  will,  I  am  persuaded, 
think  that  the  whole  situation  and  the  Southern  Baptist  pro- 
test in  particular,  make  it  desirable  that  a  contribution  to 
the  subject  should  be  made  from  the  viewpoint  opposite  to 
that  from  which  all  the  books  on  the  Union  Movement  have 
been  written  and  that  of  all  the  missionary  magazines  which 
seek  the  patronage  of  all  denominations. 


The  Union  Movement  19 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  STRENGTH  OF  THE  MOVEMENT. 

The  organized  Movement  to  secure  the  unity  and  co- 
operation of  evangelical  and  Protestant  forces  of  the  world 
and  to  operate  the  alliance  under  certain  policies  with  cer- 
tain very  definite  aims,  has  already  gained  great  headway 
and  assumed  large  significance.  Few,  perhaps,  of  those  who 
either  favor  or  oppose  the  Movement  realize  how  thorough 
and  comprehensive  is  the  organization,  the  large  number  of 
organizations  which  are  cooperating  in  the  support  of  its  pro- 
gram, and  how  radical  and  definite  are  the  ends  which  are 
sought.  Indeed,  it  is  certain  that  many  men  of  high  intelli- 
gence concerning  missions  in  general  and  of  admirable  devo- 
tion to  missions,  are  not  familiar  with  the  things  proposed. 
Some  who  have  strong  opinions  and  much  feeling  in  favor  of 
the  Movement  have  not  distinguished  between  it  and  the  ordi- 
nary Christian  fellowship  which  all  should  recognize,  nor 
realized  to  what  extremes  the  Movement  has  gone  in  clearly 
defined  policies.  There  is  no  more  prominent  aspect  of  mis- 
sions than  this  Movement,  and  nothing  so  revolutionary  as 
regards  type  and  status  of  individual  denominations  has 
occurred  in  a  hundred  years.  No  evangelical  denomination 
can  hope  to  perpetuate  its  identity  if  the  Movement  succeeds 
in  its  aim  to  draw  all  denominations  into  itself.  It  is  ex- 
tremely doubtful  that  the  essential  character  of  evangelical 
Christianity  can  be  preserved  if  the  ideals  openly  avowed  for 
the  Movement  are  realized.  It  is  certainly  plain  that  those 
who  are  directing  the  Movement  expect  to  see  a  Christianity 
in  China,  Japan  and  other  countries  which  will  present  a  very 
difiFerent  aspect  from  that  which  we  have  in  America  today; 


20  The  Union  Movement 

one  which  in  content  of  creed  and  in  ecclesiastical  order  has 
at  present  no  counterpart.  Indeed,  one  of  the  pleas  by  which 
it  is  sought  to  strengthen  the  Movement  is  that,  in  the  reali- 
zation of  its  ideals,  Christianity  on  the  mission  fields  will  be 
different  from  that  with  which  we  are  familiar.  All  of  this 
means  that  the  Movement  has  raised  issues  of  vital  interest 
to  every  denomination.  The  reader  of  these  pages  will  judge 
whether  they  furnish  him  facts  which  justify  these  state- 
ments. 

The  matter  is  an  actual,  practical,  present  one.  Federa- 
tion is  a  strong  rival  of  evangelization  as  a  leading  topic  in 
many  missionary  circles  and  conferences.  Sentiment  for 
union  and  cooperation  is  both  pervasive  and  powerful. 
There  is  no  evading  the  issues  which  have  been  raised,  and 
resistance  calls  for  both  courage  and  strength.  As  anoma- 
lous as  it  may  seem,  the  aggressive  movement  for  union  has 
made  conflict  inevitable.  Each  denomination  and  every  man 
in  the  denominations  who  is  alert  to  the  live  issues  of  the 
hour,  must  take  sides.  Neutrality  is  impossible  in  any  Chris- 
tian body  which  has  mission  policies  of  its  own  and  its  forces 
on  any  mission  field,  and  indifference  is  unreasonable  in 
any  man  who  is  supporting  the  work  of  his  denomination. 
Dr.  Bruce  Kinney,  one  of  the  Northern  Baptist  secretaries, 
considering  the  matter  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  home  field, 


"This  question  is  in  the  air.  We  cannot  avoid  it.  We 
must  be  willing  to  face  all  the  facts.  We  cannot  smother  it 
if  we  would.    We  must  soon  take  a  stand  for  or  against  it." 

The  Standard  of  Chicago  says,  editorially : 
"With  the  doctrine  of  peace  at  any  price  we  have  little  pa- 
tience. There  are  some  things  which  are  worse  than  war. 
We  have  still  less  patience  with  the  doctrine  of  church  union 
at  any  price.  Denominationalism  has  its  evils,  but  there  are 
infinitely  worse  situations  than  that  which  is  produced  by 


The  Union  Movement  21 

denominational  rivalry.  .  .  .  We  are  convinced  that 
the  whole  future  of  our  Northern  Bajjtist  Convention  is 
vitally  related  to  the  way  in  which  this  question  is  answered, 
and  we  believe  that  the  time  has  come  to  define  our  attitude 
toward  it." 

The  Movement  is  advocated  in  the  missionary  literature 
which  pours  from  many  presses.  Sentiment  for  it  breaks 
out  in  missionary  mass  meetings.  Catch  phrases  in  its  pat- 
ronage are  used  by  the  secular  and  nondescript  newspapers. 
It  receives  the  encomium  of  the  impassioned  missionary 
orator,  and  is  given  prominence  in  missionary  programs  and 
conferences.  It  has  supporters  in  every  evangelical  and 
Protestant  body,  and  constitutes  a  leading  plank  in  the  plat- 
form of  several  influential  inter-,  or  more  exactly,  extra- 
denominational  organizations.  I  say  ea^^ra-denominational 
because  the  Movement  has  its  administrative  head  apart  from 
the  administrative  agencies  of  the  denominations  and  is 
operated  outside  of  and  independent  of  the  denominational 
policies  and  programs.  All  the  missionary  magazines  which 
seek  the  patronage  of  preachers  and  inter-denominational  cir- 
culation are  strong  friends  of  the  Movement,  and  give  it  lib- 
eral space  and  editorial  support. 

The  Movement  has  long  heads  behind  it  who  have  well- 
laid  plans  for  it.  It  has  gained  tremendous  momentum  and 
claims  the  attention  of  all  who  think  or  plan  for  missions. 
Says  Dr.  Eobert  A.  Ashworth,  who  finds  his  ideals  in  the 
Movement : 

"We  are  in  the  midst  today  of  a  mighty  movement  as  sig- 
nificant as  the  Keformation,  that  is  sweeping  with  irresisti- 
ble power  over  the  entire  earth,  and  that  is  shortly  to  change 
the  face  of  Christendom."  (Union  of  Christian  Forces  in 
America,  by  Robert  A.  Ashicorth,  D.I).,  page  231.) 

Again  he  says : 


22  The  Union  Movement 

''The  most  pressing  problem  of  the  church  in  our  day  is 
that  of  Christian  unity;  beside  it  all  others  fade  into  insig- 
nificance." (The  Union  of  Christian  Forces  in  America^  hy 
Robert  A.  Ashworth,  D.D.,  page  IS.) 

The  Movement  has  not  only  the  support  of  strong  and 
influential  men,  but  is  being  financed  with  great  generosity. 
Portions  of  large  bequests  like  that  of  Mr.  John  R.  Lingren 
are  available  for  its  promotion,  and  under  the  solicitations 
of  certain  men  of  influence  considerable  sums  are  secured 
annually  with  which  to  strengthen  this  program.  There 
seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the  amount  of  money  which  can  be 
secured  for  undenominational  and  inter-denominational  en- 
terprises. Besides,  the  various  denominational  boards  fur- 
nish much  in  the  time  and  expense  of  those  who  voluntarily 
compose  the  management  of  the  Movement.  The  Rocke- 
feller Foundation,  in  its  Treasurer's  Report  for  1915,  has 
this  item : 

''R.  F.  228  Committee  of  Reference  and  Council  of  Annual 
Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America  for  carrying 
out  its  program  of  cooperation  and  coordination  in  foreign 
missionary  work  of  the  principal  Mission  Boards,  total 
pledge  of  1425,000.00  extending  over  ten  years  (instalments 
due  in  1915,  |75,000.00)." 

The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  was  given  an  additional 
124,000.00  by  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  with  which  "to  fit 
up  adequate  rooms  and  facilities  for  the  various  agencies 
working  from  this  Conference."  The  annual  rental  on  the 
headquarters  thus  splendidly  equipped  is  a  little  more  than 
twelve  thousand  dollars. 

The  Reports  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  are  ex- 
pository of  the  Movement,  and  show  something  of  how  the 
respective  organizations  are  jointed  up  and  combine  their 
influence  upon  common  aims.     The  money  which  is  made 


The  Union  Movement  23 

available  by  the  Kockefeller  Foundation,  other  donations, 
and  the  appropriations  of  cooperating  mission  boards,  is  used 
to  strengthen  the  program  universally.  This  will  appear 
from  such  budgets  as  this  which  in  the  Report  for  1916 — 
pages  174  and  308 : 

Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America    $  5,600.00 

Rent  12,360.00 

Expense  of  up-keep  of  all  offices,  including  reception  clerk, 

telephone  service,  etc 3,428.50 

Salary  of  Assistant  Treasurer   800.00 

Stenographic  help  and  office  expenses  of  all  committees..  2,150.00 

Missionary  Research  Library  and  Archives 11,345.00 

Board  of  Missionary  Preparation 9,585.00 

Appropriation  to  Continuation  Committees — 

Edinburgh  Continuation  Committee $5,000.00 

China  Continuation   Committee 5,000.00 

Japan   Continuation  Committee 2,500.00 

National   Missionary   Council  of  India 3,500.00 —  16,000.00 

Quinquennial   Statistical   Survey 7,500.00 

Contingencies    2,000.00 

170,768.50 

Grant  to  Kobe  Union  Church  $1,000.00 

Grant  to  Yokohama  Union  Church  1,000.00 

Grant  to  Mexico  City  Union  Church  (approximate) 400.00 

Grant  to  Peking  Union  Church 1,000.00 

Grant  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  Union  Church 1,000.00 

Mediterranean  Tourist  Directory   (estimated) 300.00 

Transportation  of  a  married  minister 700.00 

Cablegrams  and  miscellaneous 20.00 

$  5,420.00 

Similar  figures  covering  the  identical  items  appear  in  the 
Eeport  for  1917,  pages  80-86,  198  and  31-32. 

The  denominations  are  furnishing  offices  for  each  of  nu- 
merous inter-denominational  organizations  which  for  elabo- 
rateness and  magnificence  are  unapproached  by  the  accom- 
modations which  they  furnish  for  their  own  boards.    As  an 


24  The  Union  Movement 

example  we  give  the  following  which  is  furnished  by  the  Gen- 
eral Secretary  of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America : 

"Equipment  of  National  Offices. 

"The  national  offices  of  the  Council  now  consist  of  a  series 
of  thirty  office  rooms  in  the  United  Charities  Building,  New 
York,  occupying  the  capacity  of  an  entire  floor  of  that  build- 
ing; commod.ious  offices  in  the  Woodward  Building,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  a  branch  office  of  the  Commission  on  the  Church 
and  Country  Life  in  the  Commercial  Building,  Columbus, 
Ohio,  and  branch  quarters  of  the  Commission  on  Evangelism 
in  Chicago. 

"The  secretarial  force  is  as  follows:  The  general  secre- 
tary, the  field  secretary,  the  associate  secretary,  the  secre- 
tary of  the  Commission  on  International  Justice  and  Good- 
will, the  Secretary  for  Temperance  Work,  the  executive  sec- 
retary and  field  secretary  of  the  Commission  on  Inter-Church 
Federations,  three  secretaries  of  the  War  Commission,  and 
the  assistant  secretary  at  the  New  York  office;  an  assistant 
secretary  at  the  Washington  office,  and  the  secretary  on  Coun- 
try Life  at  Columbus.  The  other  commissions  have  only  vol- 
untary or  part-time  secretarial  service. 

"At  the  New  York  office  there  are  also  a  general  office  di- 
rector, a  director  of  the  publication  and  printing  department, 
an  assistant  to  the  treasurer,  and  a  force  of  secretaries,  sten- 
ographers, clerks,  and  assistants  numbering  at  the  present 
time  about  forty. 

"The  national  offices  have  not  adequate  room,  and  it  is 
earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  the  committee  appointed  to  make 
inquiry  and  report  regarding  an  appropriate  building  may 
find  a  speedy  opportunity  for  progress.  The  offices  in  New 
York  are  thoroughly  equipped  with  mechanical  apparatus, 
and  are  now  enabled  to  reach  the  entire  constituency  with 
communications  upon  very  short  notice.  The  correspondence 
of  the  office  is  large,  averaging  over  one  hundred  letters  a 
day. 

"The  Library  of  Social  Service  and  Missions  contains 
about  3,000  volumes,  and  about  500  current  religious,  social 
and  labor  papers  and  magazines. 


The  Union  Movement  25 

"During  the  past  quadrennium  the  Publication  Depart- 
ment issued  and  distributed  fourteen  bound  volumes  and 
served  as  the  distributing  agency  for  several  other  volumes 
incidentally  related  to  the  work  of  the  Council.  There  were 
also  distributed  seven  volumes  of  annual  reports  and  nearly 
one  hundred  different  pieces  of  pamphlet  literature.  Some 
idea  of  the  work  of  the  printing  and  multigraphing  depart- 
ment may  be  gained  from  these  figures ;  the  average  has  been 
about  225,000  letters  a  year  for  the  Federal  Council  and 
about  500,000  letters  a  year  for  coooperating  bodies ;  a  total 
of  about  775,000  per  year.  About  2,000,000  pamphlets  and 
leaflets  were  sent  out  of  the  shop  during  1916. 

"The  Bureau  of  Eeligious  Publicity  has  been  established 
on  a  modest  scale,  but  promises  development  as  fast  as  re- 
sources may  be  found  for  it  and  the  cooperation  secured  of 
the  various  religious  agencies  required  for  its  success. 

"In  addition  to  the  offices  in  New  York  the  Commission 
on  the  Church  and  Country  Life  maintains  an  office  at  Co- 
lumbus, Ohio,  where  the  Secretary,  Kev.  Charles  O.  Gill,  has 
been  conducting  a  statewide  rural  survey.  The  Commission 
on  Evangelism  has  had  a  branch  office  in  Chicago  and  the 
Committee  on  the  Celebration  of  the  Four  Hundreth  Anni- 
versary of  the  Eeformation  has  its  office  in  Philadelphia,  with 
Rev,  Howard  R.  Gold  as  the  Secretary. 

"While  having  no  official  relationship  with  the  national 
offices,  there  are  now  in  about  twenty-two  cities  offices  of 
state  and  local  federations  of  churches,  which  also  serve  in 
large  measure  the  interest  of  the  national  movement."  (Th^ 
Progress  of  Church  Federation^  hy  Charles  S.  MacFarland — 
pages  69-71.) 

Does  anybody  believe  that  the  respective  denominations 
are  getting  benefits  from  this  Federal  Council  to  justify  such 
extravagant  accommodations  for  it?  Do  the  above  figures 
furnish  any  evidence  that  these  organizations  are  helping  us 
realize  the  economy  which  they  appeal  to  in  condemnation 
of  denominationalism  and  to  justify  undenominationalism? 
For  what  are  the  vast  sums  of  money  which  are  contributed 
to  these  numerous  interdenominational  organizations  spent? 


26  Thb  Union  Movement 

Are  they  used  in  actual  niission  work?  No.  How  many  men 
and  women  are  thus  sent  forth  to  toil  at  home  or  in  heathen 
lands  to  discharge  the  ordinary  duties  of  missionaries?  Not 
one.  The  immense  sums  of  money  which  are  used  by  these 
organizations  are  drawn  out  of  the  denominations  and  from 
denominational  missionary  agencies,  and  are  used  to  main- 
tain these  organizations  which  are  manned  by  an  army  of 
secretaries  and  other  officials,  who  themselves  are  thus  di- 
verted from  the  denominations  which  trained  them  and  need 
their  services.  Thoughtful  men  will  be  asking,  How  can 
this  Movement  justify  its  slogan  of  missionary  economy  and 
its  loud  lament  about  the  extravagance  of  denominational 
mission  work? 

To  realize  how  strong  is  organization  behind  this  pro- 
gram for  cooperation  and  union,  one  has  only  to  reflect  upon 
the  number  of  such  organizations  which  are  afield  and  in 
close  cooperation,  and  the  men  who  are  commanding  and 
directing  these.  The  Movement  is  world-wide,  and  the  re- 
sources, forces  and  personalities  behind  it  make  it  almost 
irresistible.  The  most  remarkable  achievement  of  the  federa- 
tionists  is  the  multiplication  of  organizations  to  reduce  the 
number  of  organizations.  The  number  and  spheres  of  these 
already  bewilder  the  average  man  even  more  than  do  the 
names  and  creeds  of  the  denominations  the  excessive  num- 
ber of  which  is  so  much  deplored.  There  is  no  need  to  at- 
tempt here  a  roster  of  these  organizations.  They  include  the 
"Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America,"  the  "Con- 
ference of  Societies  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,"  the 
"Council  of  Women  for  Home  Missions,"  the  "Federation  of 
Women's  Foreign  Boards,"  the  "Federal  Council  of  Churches 
of  Christ  in  America,"  the  "Home  Mission  Council,",  the 
"Missionary  Education  Movement,"  and  the  chain  of  "con- 
tinuation committees,"  cooperating  with  the  Continua- 
tion Committee  which  was  constituted    to    perpetuate    the 


The  Union  Movement  27 

World  Missionary  Conference.     Sub-committees  extend  their 
arms  to  every  mission  station  on  every  continent. 

"The  Continuation  Committee,  appointed  by  the  (World's 
Missionary)  Conference  to  carry  out  the  line  of  work  pro- 
jected by  it,  is  perhaps  the  mightiest  single  influence  in  the 
world  today  making  for  cooperation  and  unity  among  the 
forces  of  Christendom."  {The  Union  of  Christiati  Forces  in 
America,  pages  208-9,  hy  Rohert  A.  Ashworth.) 

"Other  conferences  ended  with  their  adjournment,  but 
the  Edinburgh  Conference  goes  on  through  its  Continuation 
Committee.  It  is  this  fact  which  gives  significance  to  that 
Committee.  The  Conference  set  in  motion  powerful  forces 
and  accelerated  others  which  were  already  in  operation.  It 
felt  that  it  should  not  dissolve  without  creating  some  body 
which  could  deal  more  deliberately  and  systematically  with 
those  forces.  Antecedent  fears  that  the  Conference  might  go 
too  far  vanished  as  sessions  progressed  until  amid  scenes 
of  profound  solemnity  and  devotion  the  delegates  by  unani- 
mous vote  constituted  the  Continuation  Committee.  The 
Committee  represents  interests  which  have  never  been  united. 
.  .  .  The  Committee  is  prosecuting  its  work  through  twelve 
special  committees  along  many  lines  which  illustrate  the 
need  of  cooperative  study.  Not  least  among  these  is  the  pro- 
motion of  cooperation  and  unity  in  mission  work."  {Unity 
and  Missions,  Arthur  J.  Brown,  D.D.,  pages  246-47.) 

"The  most  tangible  evidence  that  the  Congress  was  not 
considered  an  end  in  itself  is  that  it  set  about  to  bring  things 
to  pass  through  the  creation  of  a  'Continuation  Committee.' 
The  most  practical  and  effective  means  were  employed.  The 
inter-denominational  'Committee  on  Cooperation  in  Latin- 
America,'  which  had  projected  the  Panama  Congress  and  the 
regional  conferences,  was  requested  to  enlarge  its  member- 
ship and  activity.  The  new  committee  comprises  both  rep- 
resentatives of  the  home  base  and  the  church  in  the  field,  to 
insure  complete  coordination  of  plans  and  performance." 
(Panama  Congress,  Vol.  1,  pages  33-34.) 

It  is  plain  from  these  quotations,  two  of  which  are  taken 
from  books  written  by  men  of  authority  connected,  one  with 


28  The  Union  Movement 

the  Executive  Committee  of  the  ''Federal  Council  of  Churches 
of  Christ  in  America,"  and  the  other,  with  the  ''Foreign  Mis- 
sions Conference  of  North  America,"  that,  according  to  their 
acknowledgments,  the  organizations  referred  to  by  them  will, 
if  possible,  effect  and  secure  recognition  for  the  respective 
items  in  the  program  which  other  quotations  will  presently 
designate.  We  do  not  insist,  nor  admit,  that  all  who  are  in 
any  way  connected  with  these  organizations,  or  their  commit- 
tees, are  committed  to  all  that  these  officials  advocate;  but 
whether  approving  or  disapproving,  the  "Findings"  of  vari- 
ous conferences  which  are  under  the  control  of  these  organi- 
zationSj  show  plainly  that  these  brethren  who  do  not  approve 
have  not,  by  their  connection  with  the  organization  and  com- 
mittees, been  able  to  restrain  them  from  these  objectionable 
policies.  In  spite  of  their  membership,  if  not  by  the  help  of 
it,  the  objectionable  program  has  been  made  and  is  being 
operated.  This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  matter  for  such  members  to 
consider  seriously.  For  our  part,  we  cannot,  in  the  light  of 
the  facts,  see  any  hope  that  Baptists  can  by  membership  in 
these  organizations,  or  on  these  committees,  influence  them 
materially  in  matters  which  constitute  the  very  platform  on 
which  the  Movement  invites  membership  and  cooperation. 

All  right  purposing  men  ought  to  be  informed,  guard  their 
prejudices,  mature  their  judgments  and  form  sincere  convic- 
tions concerning  such  a  religious  Movement.  Certainly  a 
missionary  management  which,  under  the  circumstances,  has 
no  fixed  policies  and  definite  course,  may  not  expect  hon 
voyage.  A  definite  policy,  fully  understood  and  consistently 
adhered  to,  is  imperatively  necessary  for  any  mission  board 
which  seeks  to  secure  the  united  support  of  a  denominational 
constituency,  preserve  harmonious  relations  on  the  field  and 
the  application  of  combined  strength  upon  its  missionary 
tasks.  Certainty  and  definition  of  plan  and  program  have 
the  advantage  of  removing  misunderstanding,   clearing  up 


The  Union  Movement  29 

doubts,  preventing  harmful  discussion,  and  saving  time  and 
energy  for  the  main  things.  It  will  not  do  to  commit  even 
a  religious  enterprise  to  the  tides  of  sentiment.  Sentiment 
is  fickle.  There  are  too  many  contrary  winds,  and  they  are 
too  subject  to  fitful  gusts  to  promise  smooth  sailing  for  a 
rudderless  and  compassless  administration. 

This  is  not  the  time  for  ugly  words;  neither  is  it  a  time 
for  silence.  It  is  a  time  for  sound  judgment,  for  brave  and 
candid  speech.  If  a  righteous  settlement  of  the  issues  is  to 
be  had,  religion  and  Scripture  must  be  applied  to  them.  Sen- 
timent itself  must  yield  to  sane  interpretation  of  the  Bible 
which  is  our  manual  of  missions.  We  need  something  more 
than  sentiment  to  help  us  settle  issues  which  sentiment  has 
raised,  if  we  would  avoid  exasperating  those  whose  feelings 
have  become  Involved. 

Southern  Baptists  cannot  be  indifferent  to  sentiment 
which  is  favorable  to  Christian  union,  nor  is  their  attitude 
inimical  to  it.  The  ideal  of  Christian  union  is  held  up  to  every 
reader  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  desire  for  it  is  the  nat- 
ural impulse  of  every  pious  soul.  It  springs  spontaneously 
out  of  the  Christian  experience.  Southern  Baptists  crave  it, 
and  would  like  to  help  their  fellow  Christians  realize  it. 
They  raise  no  protest  against  Christian  union  but  against 
such  use  of  the  sentiment  for  it  as  puts  Christian  truth  in 
jeopardy,  obscures  the  real  issues  upon  which  Christian  peo- 
ple are  divided,  and  interferes  with  articles  of  faith  which, 
according  to  their  understanding  and  conviction,  are  firmly 
set  in  the  Scriptures,  and  are,  therefore,  unalterable  terms 
of  union.  They  want  Christian  union,  but  they  do  not  want 
any  artificial  substitute  for  it.  However,  as  much  as  they 
crave  it,  and  as  certain  as  they  are  of  the  ground  upon  which 
it  is  to  be  secured,  they  will  not  fume  about  it  nor  crowd 
others  unduly  with  their  program  for  it,  and  individual  Bap- 
tists should  not  show  unbecoming  feeling  when  others  crowd 


30  The  Union  Movement 

them.  The  men  who  are  anchored  to  deep  convictions  con- 
cerning the  truth  can  afford  to  be  calm  even  when  storms  are 
abroad. 

That  which  seems  most  desirable  is  that  discussion  of 
Christian  union  and  cooperation  shall  be  conducted  in  Chris- 
tian spirit,  and  that  it  shall  be  held  to  the  Scriptures  as  the 
only  key  to  the  solution  of  the  questions  and  the  perplexing 
problems  which  agitation  has  raised.  Sentiment  is  no  sub- 
stitute for  scriptural  commands  and  does  not  excuse  any  one 
from  obedience  to  them. 


The  Union  Movement  31 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  ATTITUDE  DEFINED. 

The  program  announced,  the  issues  raised,  and  the  ag- 
gressive methods  put  forth  have  disturbed  American  Baptist 
constituencies,  both  at  home  and  on  the  foreign  mission  fields. 
The  effect  has  been  especially  manifest  among  Southern  Bap- 
tists. Recent  sessions  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention 
have  given  evidence  of  this.  Throughout  several  of  these 
sessions  there  has  been  an  uneasy  consciousness  of  the  issues 
which  this  Movement  has  raised.  At  times  this  has  broken 
forth  in  speech,  and  sometimes,  too,  in  feeling,  and  once  or 
twice  in  vehemence  which  startled  some  gentle  and  peace- 
loving  souls.  The  disturbance  has  been  serious  enough  to 
provoke  anxiety  in  all  who  love  the  cause  of  Christ  and  for- 
eign mission  work  in  particular. 

It  is  good  that  serious  and  sensible  men  in  the  denomina- 
tion have,  under  the  circumstances,  been  thinking  and  seeking 
to  take  care  of  the  denominational  spirit  and  principles,  and 
of  Baptist  organization  and  missionary  operations.  These 
men  have,  perhaps,  thought  more  calmly  than  would  have 
been  possible,  even  to  them,  under  the  excitement  of  public 
debate,  and  have  from  time  to  time  offered  their  conclusions 
to  the  public  and  to  the  Convention.  Dr.  E.  C.  Dargan,  with 
a  thoughtful  committee,  appointed  by  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention  in  1911  to  represent  the  Convention  in  the 
"World  Conference  on  Faith  and  Order,"  has  faced  the  issues 
with  candor,  and  has  presented  Southern  Baptist  views  to 
the  Conference  and  back  to  the  Convention  with  credit  to 
his  denomination  and  to  Christendom.  Dr.  E.  Y.  Mullins, 
President  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  has, 


32  The  Union  Movement 

besides  writing  several  newspaper  articles  on  the  subject  of 
Christian  union,  devoted  one  chapter  of  his  book,  "Axioms 
of  Eeligion/'  to  this  question  in  certain  of  its  relations. 
He  has,  as  usual,  spoken  with  great  force  and  dignity.  Sev- 
eral years  ago  the  Texas  General  Convention  foresaw  that 
a  storm  was  breaking  and  put  forth  a  statement  of  the  Bap- 
tist position  under  the  general  title  of  "Christian  Union," 
which  is  unsurpassed  in  soundness,  candor  and  courtesy. 
The  Efficiency  Commission  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Con- 
vention, appointed  in  1913,  and  composed  of  nine  representa- 
tive men,  prepared  an  elaborate  statement  on  this  matter 
for  their  report,  this  part  of  which  was  adopted  by  the  Con- 
vention in  1914  as  follows : 

"We  believe  that  the  highest  efficiency  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  in  the  propagation  and  confirmation  of 
the   Gospel  can  be  attained. 

"1.  By  the  observance  of  strict  loyalty  to  Christ  as  the 
head  of  the  church,  in  a  spirit  of  candor  and  Christian  cour- 
tesy toward  all  who  profess  to  be  His  disciples. 

"2.  By  preserving  a  complete  autonomy  at  home  and 
abroad,  unembarrassed  by  entangling  alliances  with  other 
bodies  holding  to  different  standards  of  doctrine  and  differ- 
ent views  of  church  life  and  church  order. 

"3.  By  devoting  our  energies  and  resources  with  single- 
ness of  heart  to  fostering  and  multiplying  denominational 
schools  and  other  agencies  at  home  and  abroad  in  full  denom- 
inational control  and  in  full  harmony  with  the  spirit  and  doc- 
trine of  the  churches  contributing  funds  to  our  Boards. 

"4.  By  a  complete  alignment  of  all  our  denominational 
forces,  churches,  schools,  hospitals,  papers,  Sunday  schools, 
women's  and  young  people's  societies,  in  purpose,  spirit  and 
practice  with  the  program  of  Christ  as  set  out  in  the  Great 
Commission,  avoiding  the  weakness  of  vagueness  and  the 
diffusion  of  denominational  strength  into  channels  leading 
away  from  the  churches. 

"5.  By  placing  renewed  and  greatly  increased  emphasis 
on  the  education,  training  and  enlisting  of  all  our  people,  to 


The  Union  Movement  33 

the  end  that  they  may  intelligently  and  joyfully  participate 
in  all  the  work  of  the  denomination. 

"6.  By  sending  out  a  loud,  insistent  and  persistent  call 
to  the  Baptists  of  the  South  to  enter  whole-heartedly  into 
greatly  enlarged  plans  for  progress,  with  higher  standards 
of  consecration  and  giving. 

"7.  By  seeking  earnestly  to  maintain  and  promote  the  in- 
ternal peace  and  harmony  of  the  denomination,  to  the  end 
that  waste  by  friction  may  be  avoided,  and  that  the  time 
may  be  hastened  when  we  shall  be  of  one  spirit  and  one  mind, 
striving  together  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.  While  we  fully 
recognize  the  necessity  and  great  value  of  the  free  discussion 
of  all  intra-denominational  questions,  we  would  earnestly 
insist  that  all  such  discussions  should  be  brotherly  and  Il- 
luminating, never  personal  and  irritating,  and  in  such  man- 
ner as  will  conserve  and  not  injure  approved  denominational 
agencies.  We  should  constantly  seek  peace  and  pursue  it 
by  the  application  of  scriptural  principles  to  the  solution  of 
all  intra-denominational  differences,  doing  this  in  the  spirit 
of  love,  ever  keeping  the  main  emphasis  on  the  main  things. 

"Your  Commission  is  persuaded  that  in  this  way  the  Bap- 
tists of  the  South  can  best  conserve  their  strength  and  utilize 
it  for  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  in  the  establishment  of 
the  Truth  in  every  part  of  the  earth. 

"We  believe  also  that  in  this  way  we  can  render  the 
greatest  service  to  other  Christians  and  most  surely  and 
speedily  promote  their  union  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the 
only  possible  base  of  real  and  abiding  Christian  union." 

All  of  the  above  pronouncements  on  the  question  of  Chris- 
tian union  and  cooperation  put  Southern  Baptists  squarely 
on  the  record  as  being  favorable  to  Christian  union,  the  sort 
of  union  which  is  possible  to  them,  and  unfavorable  to  that 
which  is  impossible.  Dr.  J.  M.  Frost  assembled  these  and 
other  notable  papers  of  similar  im]x>rt  and  the  Sunday 
School  Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  published 
them  in  a  little  volume  entitled,  "Christian  Union  Relative 
to  Baptist  Churches." 
3 


34  The  Union  Movement 

The  Foreign  Mission  Board,  finding  itself  face  to  face 
with  issues  which  the  Movement  had  raised,  and  from  time 
to  time  being  questioned  as  to  its  policy  by  its  home  con- 
stituency, and  asked  by  some  of  its  best  missionaries  to  inter- 
pret the  deliverance  of  the  Convention  in  the  light  of  condi- 
tions on  the  field  and  to  give  explicit  definition  of  its  own 
attitude,  presented  to  the  Convention  of  1916  the  following 
statement  which  was  adopted  with  great  heartiness  by  the 
Convention : 

"A  Statement  of  the  Attitude  op  the  Foreign  Mission 

Board  op  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention 

Toward  Union  Epport  in  Mission  Work. 

"Thinking  it  timely  to  issue  a  statement  setting  forth  its 
attitude  toward  cooperation  and  union  in  mission  work,  the 
Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention, 
at  its  Annual  Meeting,  June,  1915,  appointed  a  committee 
charged  with  the  duty  of  preparing  such  a  statement.  That 
committee  herewith  submits  its  report  as  follows : 

"We  would,  as  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  has  al- 
ready done,  put  ourselves  on  record  as  cherishing  a  very 
tender  Christian  regard  for  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  sincerity,  and  as  desiring  the  most  cordial  Christian  rela- 
tionship with  those  who,  like  ourselves,  are  trying  to  make 
him  known  to  a  lost  world.  The  dissent  which  this  report 
affirms  is  made  necessary  by  a  general  program  of  union  and 
cooperation  which  conflicts  at  certain  points  with  the  policies 
of  this  Board,  and  with  well-known  principles  of  the  denomi- 
nation which  it  represents.  We  regret  the  necessity  for  this 
dissent.  The  program  which  provokes  it,  thr-eatens  to  hinder 
rather  than  help  Christian  unity.  But  the  issues  having 
been  raised,  it  becomes  us  to  deal  with  them  candidly. 

"Before  enumerating  certain  points  of  dissent,  we  would 
recite  the  action  taken  by  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention 
for  the  guidance  of  its  mission  boards  and  its  missionaries, 
and  to  insure  the  unity  of  our  people  in  their  great  mission- 
ary tasks: 


The  Union  Movement  35 

"  'We  believe  that  the  highest  efficiency  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  in  the  propagation  and  confirmation  of 
the  Gospel  can  be  attained : 

"  '1.  By  the  observance  of  strict  loyalty  to  Christ  as  the 
head  of  the  church,  in  a  spirit  of  candor  and  Christian 
courtesy  toward  all  who  profess  to  be  his  disciples. 

"  '2,  By  preserving  a  complete  autonomy  at  home  and 
abroad,  unembarrassed  by  entangling  alliances  with  other 
bodies  holding  to  different  standards  of  doctrines  and  differ- 
ent views  of  church  life  and  church  order. 

"  '3.  By  devoting  our  energies  and  resources  with  single- 
ness of  heart  to  fostering  and  multiplying  denominational 
schools  and  other  agencies  at  home  and  abroad  in  full  de- 
nominational control  and  in  full  harmony  with  the  spirit  and 
doctrine  of  the  churches  contributing  funds  to  our  Boards. 

^'  '4.  By  a  complete  alignment  of  all  our  denominational 
forces,  churches,  schools,  hospitals,  papers,  Sunday  schools, 
women's  and  young  people's  societies,  in  purpose,  spirit  and 
practice  with  the  program  of  Christ  as  set  out  in  the  Great 
Commission,  avoiding  the  weakness  of  vagueness  and  the  dif- 
fusion of  denominational  strength  into  channels  leading  away 
from  tbe  churches. 

''  'We  believe  also  that  in  this  way  we  can  render  the 
greatest  service  to  other  Christians  and  most  surely  and 
speedily  promote  their  union  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  only 
possible  base  of  real  and  abiding  Christian  union.' 

"The  churches  ought  to  be  assured  that  their  gifts  to  the 
Convention  boards  shall  not  be  diverted  to  unauthorized  en- 
terprises, and  misunderstanding,  embarrassment  and  friction 
ought,  if  possible,  to  be  avoided. 

''Therefore,  as  interpretative  of  the  above,  and  in  the 
interest  of  mutual  understanding  and  good-will  among  all 
concerned,  we  offer  the  following,  together  with  what  has 
gone  before,  as  the  attitude  of  this  Board  to  the  proposed 
union  and  cooperation  in  mission  work : 

"1.  This  Board  has  not  and  will  not  enter  into  nor  be 
committed  to  any  compact  by  which  arbitrary  territorial 
boundaries  or  divisions  are  fixed  for  its  missionary  opera- 
tions.    Such  division  of  territory  being  a  part  of  a  general 


36  The  Union  Movement 

program  of  federation,  and  it  being  impossible  for  this  Board 
to  recognize  divisions  tluis  arbitrarily  made,  we  must  decline 
participation  in  such  program.  The  Board  and  its  mission- 
aries will  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  endeavor  to  exercise 
wisdom  and  Christian  courtesy  as  well  as  conscience  in  such 
matters ;  will  seek  to  conserve  economy  of  labor  and  money 
in  locating  its  forces,  and  with  due  regard  to  need,  oppor- 
tunity, and  probable  results,  but  cannot  consent  to  have  any 
limitations  fixed  upon  the  Commission  under  which  it 
operates,  nor  be  put  in  a  position  which  would  forbid  its 
loyalty  and  faithfulness  to  any  company  of  Christian  con- 
verts who  may  now  or  hereafter  profess  a  'like  precious  faith 
with  us/ 

"2.  We  cannot  subscribe  to  any  agreement  providing  for 
an  interchange  of  church  letters  contrary  to  the  recognized 
custom  among  the  Baptist  churches  of  the  South.  Tlie 
churches  which  are  supporting  the  work  of  this  Board  have 
a  well-known  standard  of  qualification  for  church  member- 
ship, and  we  shall  seek  to  foster  this  standard  in  every  land 
where  this  Board  sends  its  missionaries. 

"3.  This  Board  will  not  engage  in  any  form  of  coopera- 
tion, hospital,  publication,  educational  or  other  missionary 
activity,  which  is  not  fully  reported  to  the  Convention,  and 
which  does  not  meet  the  approval  of  the  Convention,  under 
the  auspices  of  which  it  operates,  and  to  the  instructions  of 
which  it  is  subject.  We  esteem  it  to  be  a  matter  of  primary 
importance  that  this  Board  be  in  a  position  to  control,  or 
control  jointly  with  other  Baptist  bodies,  the  religious  in- 
struction which  is  given  boys  and  girls  entrusted  to  its  care. 
This  is  necessary  in  order  to  safeguard  what  we  believe  to 
be  our  message  to  the  world. 

"4.  To  avoid  an  exhaustive  enumeration,  and  yet  to  make 
the  statement  comprehensive,  we  add,  that  we  shall  seek  to 
foster  a  policy  abroad  which  is  consistent  with  the  denomi- 
national policy  at  home,  and  no  pressure  will  be  allowed  to 
swerve  the  Board  from  this  course.  We  make  these  declara- 
tions for  the  information  of  our  people  at  home,  and  with 
the  view  of  saving  the  scattered  missionaries  of  this  Board 
all  possible  embarrassment  or  confusion  from  such  pressure. 

"Again,  we  would  remind  all  that  Southern  Baptists  are 
on  record  by  repeated  action  of  the  Convention  in  recogni- 


Denominational  Program  37 

tion  of  that  spiritual  union  which  exists  among  all  believers 
in  Christ,  and  in  favor  of  their  organic  union  as  soon  as  it 
can  be  perfected  on  New  Testament  lines.  We  reaffirm  these 
sentiments.  We  would  have  all  our  people  recognize  the 
bonds  of  brotherhood  which  unite  Christians  of  every  name, 
cultivate  a  large  spirit  of  fraternity  and  strive  together  with 
others  to  secure  the  closest  possible  impact  of  our  common 
Christianity  upon  the  social  order  for  the  establishment  of 
righteousness  in  the  earth.  We  would,  however,  admonish 
our  people  at  home  and  abroad  to  remain  true  to  New  Testa- 
ment principles  of  faith  and  church  polity,  and  by  so  doing, 
seek  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  denomination,  enlist  all  of 
our  forces  for  the  holy  cause  of  missions,  and  thus  insure 
the  integrity,  support  and  success  of  this  work." 

The  above  statement  is  very  plain  and  the  unanimity  with 
w^hich  it  was  passed  by  both  the  Board  and  the  Convention 
ought  to  give  it  weight.  Whether  the  position  taken  con- 
forms entirely  to  the  views  of  every  one  or  not,  it  must  be 
gratifying  to  all  who  sincerely  love  the  w^ork  of  the  Conven- 
tion to  see  the  matter  settled  by  so  conclusive  a  vote,  and 
thus  to  have  the  way  opened  for  hearty  i/i^ra-denominational 
cooperation  along  the  main  lines  of  our  foreign  mission  enter- 
prise. Decision  and  definition,  even  when  they  are  not  exactly 
to  one's  liking,  are  better  than  misunderstanding  and  uncer- 
tainty and  a  nervous  suspense.  All  can  now  commit  themselves 
to  a  constructive  missionary  policy  which  has  in  it  a  greater 
measure  of  good  for  the  missionary  enterprise  in  general, 
as  well  as  Baptist  mission  work  in  particular,  than  any  pro- 
posed scheme  of  federation  which  divides  our  people.  The 
agreement  of  a  great  representative  Convention  upon  a  deliv- 
erance like  this  is  gratifying  evidence  of  unison  of  faith  and 
singleness  of  denominational  loyalty  among  Southern  Bap- 
tists. Of  course,  the  value  of  the  decision  to  Southern 
Baptist  missions  will  be  determined  by  Ihe  extent  to  which 
it  is  known  and  respected  by  our  people  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  the  consideration  given  it  by  the  leaders  of  the  Move- 
ment which  provoked  it. 


38  The  Union  Movement 

CHAPTER  IV. 

SPECIFIC  ISSUES  RAISED. 

The  friendliness  of  some  very  excellent  men  and  loyal 
Baptists  for  this  organized  effort  for  union  and  cooperation 
is  evidently  based  upon  partial  understanding  of  the  Move- 
ment. Their  attitude  could  not  be  explained  if  they  were  in 
possession  of  all  the  facts,  fully  aware  of  all  the  issues  raised, 
and  had  duly  considered  the  inevitable  consequences  which 
must  follow  the  adoption  of  certain  policies  which  are  promi- 
nent in  the  Movement's  program.  The  definitely  avowed 
goals  which  have  been  set  for  the  Movement  and  the  well- 
jointed  machinery  which  is  in  operation  for  the  realization 
of  these  ends  have  been  overlooked  by  these  friends.  They 
have  no  thought  of  being  disloyal  to  their  denomination,  but 
they  have  evidently  been  Influenced  largely  by  sentimental 
considerations  which  make  strong  appeal  to  men  of  large 
sympathy  and  generous  impulses.  Many  of  them  are  men  of 
commendably  broad  charity  and  large  capacity  for  brother- 
liness,  and  it  is  not  easy  for  such  men  to  separate  the  issues 
from  sentiment. 

The  writer  does  not,  even  for  a  moment,  impugn  the 
motives  of  those  who  have  prepared  the  program  and  who 
direct  the  Movement.  He  believes  in  their  uncontaminated 
integrity,  honors  them  for  the  service  which  they  have  ren- 
dered the  cause  of  Christ  and  Christian  missions,  respects 
their  convictions,  and  loves  them  as  brothers  in  Christ.  He 
would  fall  very  far  below  the  heights  to  which  he  daily 
aspires,  if  he  should  say  anything  which  indicates  or  arouses 
uncharitableness  for  men  who  practice  such  devotion  to  the 
cause  in  which  he  labors. 


The  Union  Movement  39 

But  great  aud  vital  issues  have  been  raised  to  which  seri- 
ous men  cannot  be  indifferent.  If  Baptists  are  to  have  a 
missionary  policy  of  their  own,  they  must  face  these  issues, 
and  they  ought  to  face  them  intelligently,  frankly  and  fairly. 
Neither  timidity,  sullenness  nor  sentiment  ought  to  deter  men 
in  the  face  of  such  grave  matters.  Courage  without  harsh- 
ness ought  to  be  practiced  in  handling  them.  Southern  Bap- 
tists simply  should  not  allow  themselves  to  be  misunderstood 
or  misinterpreted.  They  are  not  opposed  to  Christian  union 
itself;  they  are  its  advocates.  It  would,  however,  be  strange 
for  a  great  denomination  to  make  no  response  to  a  Movement 
so  large  as  this,  and  amazing  indifference  not  to  have  or 
express  an  opinion  about  a  Movement  which  has  utterly  dis- 
regarded well-known  practices  and  policies  of  the  denomi- 
nation, and  disturbed  the  brotherhood  as  nothing  else  has  in 
many  years,  and  which,  if  not  met  with  decision,  is  certain  to 
become  a  sadly  divisive  factor. 

It  is  true  that  just  for  the  reason  that  the  issues  are  so 
sharp  and  the  feelings  of  some  are  intense,  expression  of 
opinion  ought  to  savor  of  self-restraint  and  be  tempered  with 
reasonableness  and  Christian  courtesy;  but  opinion  must  be 
expressed  with  conviction  to  be  worth  the  ink  which  sets  it 
forth  and  meet  issues  w^hich  are  so  positively  aggressive. 
Sentiment,  as  desirable  as  it  is,  must  not  be  allowed  to  make 
opinion  insipid,  and  personal  opinion  should  not  disregard 
the  Christian  amenities.  That  which  mars  the  spirit  of 
brotherhood  within  the  denomination  should  not  be  ignored 
for  the  sake  of  other  alliances.  Plans  which  are  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  policies  of  the  denomination  may  reasonably  be 
expected  to  provoke  the  opposition  of  the  denomination. 
Those  who  are  the  advocates  of  fraternal  relationships  ought 
to  be  the  first  to  recognize  this  simple  fact  and  to  give  it 
due  consideration.  The  promoters  of  the  Movement  must 
have  expected  this  and  made  their  program  in  the  face  of  it. 


40  The  Union  Movement 

This  program,  we  repeat,  is  not  put  forth  by  the  denomina- 
tions which  are  back  of  the  regular  mission  boards,  nor  by 
the  boards  themselves  which  are  supposed  to  operate  under 
the  instructions  of  the  respective  denominations.  It  is  pro- 
jected and  managed  by  an  extra-denominational  organiza- 
tion, composed  of  good  men  we  admit,  but  who  are  cooperat- 
ing in  the  projection  of  a  great  Movement  and  in  the  opera- 
tion of  a  program  which  are  inconsistent  with  the  claims  and 
practices  of  every  denomination  in  America,  and  which  con- 
travene at  several  points  missionary  policies  which  Baptists 
and  others  have  adopted  and  on  the  merit  of  which  they  ask 
the  support  of  their  constituencies. 

Having  said  this  much,  it  is  required  that  we  shall  give 
particular  items  in  this  program  which  fall  under  these 
specifications.  Some  of  these  are  designated  in  the  state- 
ment adopted  by  the  Convention,  but  we  shall  give  full  proof 
that  the  Convention  has  dissented  from  things  which  actually 
exist,  and  give  the  reader  an  opportunity  to  examine  the 
merit  of  the  issues  raised.  It  will  be  observed  that  we  do  not 
offer  for  evidence  anything  which  even  good  men  have  said  in 
criticism  of  the  policies  and  aims  of  the  Movement.  We  give 
quotations  from  the  records  of  the  Movement  itself  and  the 
utterances  of  its  friends  in  its  defense  and  in  explanation  of 
it.  We  have  diligently  sought  the  facts,  and  we  have  gone  to 
the  friends  of  the  Movement  for  them. 

The  World  Missionary  Conference  which  met  in  Edin- 
burgh, 1910,  while  advancing  upon  previous  conferences  in 
the  attention  given  to  the  question  of  union  and  cooperation, 
was  somewhat  timid  in  projecting  a  program  with  these  mat- 
ters set  boldly  to  the  front.  There  was  much  more  restraint 
in  its  deliverances  than  has  characterized  the  Continuation 
Committee,  which  was  appointed  to  "carry  out"  its  work,  and 
the  sub-committees  which  have  operated  under  this  and  uni- 
versalized  the  Movement.     And  yet   the  ground-work   and 


The  Union  Movement  41 

tendency  of  this  Movement  are  found  in  the  Edinburgh  Con- 
ference. Commission  VIII  of  that  Conference,  which  was 
designated  as  ''Commission  on  Cooperation  and  the  Promo- 
tion of  Unity,"  divided  its  report  into  several  sections  with 
such  headings  as  "Comity,"  "Federation  and  Union,"  "Co- 
operation and  tlie  Home  Base,"  etc.  Quotations  which  give 
the  weight  of  tlieir  influence  to  union  and  cooperation  take 
the  place  of  dir-ect  recommendations  in  so  many  words. 
Nevertheless,  the  moral  effect  of  the  Commission's  report  is 
in  favor  of  these  things,  although  the  committee  seems  ret- 
icent to  make  for  itself  explicit  declaration  and  recommen- 
dation. Indeed,  the  most  remarkable  thing  about  the  Com- 
mission's report  is  the  studied  way  in  which  it  avoids  ex- 
pression of  positive  opinion  on  the  very  things  its  name  and 
the  sub-titles  of  the  Eeport  indicate  to  be  the  matters  under 
discussion. 

The  Report  makes  large  place  for  quotation  and  citation 
of  the  opinions  of  others  which  are  favorable  to- union  and 
cooperation,  including  such  particulars  as  the  delimination 
of  territory,  a  national  church,  etc.,  and  give  many  refei'ences 
to  cases  of  active  cooperation  on  the  mission  fields,  but  do 
not  come  forward  in  open  advocacy  of  these  things  as  is  done 
by  the  i>ermanent  organization  which  succeeded  the  Confer- 
ence. This  surprising  reticence  may  be  due  to  the  divided 
sentiment  in  the  Commission,  or  to  a  consideration  for  the 
unpreparedness  of  the  several  denominations  for  positive 
declaration  in  favor  of  things  so  revolutionary.  One  would 
not,  however,  expect  such  men  as  Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  who 
was  a  member  of  the  Edinburgh  Commission  No.  VIII,  to 
withhold  opinion  concerning  these  matters  to  allow  anybody 
to  get  ready  for  it,  nor  that  he  should  even  understand  the 
art  of  opportunism.  Certainly  he  has  not  since  that  report 
was  written  hesitated  to  assume  personal  responsibility  for 
his  opinions  in  favor  of  the  full  program  of  union  as  here- 


42  The  Union  Movement 

after  set  forth.  The  records  of  the  Foreign  Mission 
Conference  and  other  conferences,  as  well  as  his  book, 
"Unity  and  Missions,"  contain  his  opinions  stated  with  ad- 
mirable frankness.  Indeed,  those  who  were  appointed  to 
act  for  the  World's  Missionary  Conference  as  members  of  the 
Continuation  Committee,  have  abandoned  their  reticence  and 
have  since,  without  hesitation,  framed  a  thoroughgoing  pro- 
gram. 

It  is  to  the  ''Findings"  of  the  conferences,  held  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Continuation  Committee,  that  we  must  go 
for  explicit  statement  and  the  full  content  of  this  program. 
It  is  made  very  plain  in  these.  Such  conferences  have  been 
held  in  India,  China,  Japan  and  Panama,  in  all  of  which  the 
distinctive  policies  of  the  Movement  have  rung  clear  and 
with  much  repetition.  It  is  in  these  conferences  that  the 
Movement  inaugurated  in  Edinburgh  has  got  its  more 
definite  course  and  has  drawn  into  a  straight  channel  and 
gained  immensely  in  momentum.  Prior  to  that  Conference, 
there  were  isolated  meetings  of  one  sort  and  another,  in 
which  items  in  this  program  came  to  recognition,  but  since 
the  Conference  at  Edinburgh  in  1910,  we  have  had  an  or- 
ganized Movement.  Its  course  is  now  clearly  charted  and  its 
goal  is  avowed.  Doubt  and  uncertainty  as  to  the  policies 
which  control  it  have  been  removed,  and  all  who  would 
champion  or  challenge  it  may  learn  from  its  published  pro- 
gram just  what  policies  they  assume  to  defend  or  oppose.  It 
must  be  judged  by  its  program  as  a  whole  and  by  its  ultimate 
aims  as  well  as  by  its  achievements. 

To  save  space  and  the  reader's  time  we  may  quote  from 
the  reports  of  some  of  these  conferences,  such  as  those  held 
in  China,  which  were  called  under  the  auspices  of  the  Con- 
tinuation Committee,  and  were  presided  over  by  Dr.  Mott, 
its  Chairman,  on  a  tour  which  included,  in  large  part,  the  mis- 
sion fields  of  the  Orient.     In  China,  for  instance,  he  held 


The  Union  Movement  43 

conferences  in  Canton,  Shanghai,  Tsinan-fu,  Pekin  and  Han- 
kow, closing  with  a  ''National  Ck)nference"  at  Shanghai. 
These  conferences  expressed  and  imt  into  effect  the  program 
of  the  Movement,  and,  presumably  the  missionary  ideals  of 
its  Chairman. 

"The  same  vigilant  chairman  presided  over  all  of  the 
discussions.  .  .  .  The  Edinburgh  Continuation  Commit- 
tee may  be  heartily  congratulated  on  its  'taking  occasion  by 
the  hand'  and  giving  its  commission  to  Dr.  Mott."  {China 
Mission  Year  Book,  1913,  page  76.) 

The  following  quotations  are  taken,  as  will  be  seen,  from 
authoritative  sources.  Many  of  these  quotations  could,  with 
slight  verbal  variation,  be  duplicated  from  the  records  of 
other  conferences  which  Dr.  Mott  held  on  his  extended  orien- 
tal tour.  We  classify  numerically  the  quotations  to  show 
the  nature  of  certain  planks  in  the  platform  of  the  Movement. 
The  proof  is  overwhelming  that,  for  Baptists  at  least,  the 
principles  and  policies  which  have  been  adopted  are  revolu- 
tionary and  completely  subversive  of  views  and  practices 
which  they  hold  and  defend. 

1.  The  Movement  is  committed  to  ideas,  definitions  and 
functions  relative  to  churches  which  render  it  not  only  un- 
acceptable to  Baptists,  but  unsound  and  unsafe. 

Proof:  "The  formation  of  a  type  of  Christian  churches 
.  .  .  in  which  each  would  recognize  the  ministry,  ordi- 
nances and  discipline  of  the  others  and  members  might  be 
freely  transferred  from  one  to  the  other.  .  .  .  Only  by 
this  plan  is  it  in  any  way  possible  to  secure  the  unity  that 
is  desired.  .  .  .  Each  indigenous  church  in  the  mission 
field  will  gradually,  out  of  these  diverse  elements,  build  up 
that  body  of  Christian  doctrine  and  that  form  of  polity  which 
is  best  adapted  to  its  life."  {Edinburgh  Conference,  Corn- 
mission  VIII,  pages  13Jf-135.) 


44  The  Union  Movement 

''The  study  of  already  approved  and  accepted  rules  of 
comity  under  which  some  boards  are  working  in  countries  at 
home  and  abroad,  with  reference  to  such  matters  as  salaries, 
exchange  of  members,  and  discipline,  and  the  adoption  of 
similar  policies  by  the  missionary  societies  operating  in 
Latin- America  seems  advisable."  {Panama  Congress,  Vol. 
Ill,  page  103.) 

"That  in  view  of  the  areas  to  be  evangelized,  Missions  en- 
tering upon  already  occupied  districts  should  first  consult  the 
mission  in  occupation  and  the  Federal  Council,  or  similar 
organization  of  the  province  or  district,  and  give  due  con- 
sideration to  the  recommendations  made.  That  in  opening 
work  in  fields  which  are  at  present  unoccupied,  the  mission- 
ary societies  consult  with  one  another."  {China  Year  Book, 
1913,  pages  U2-U3.) 

"In  order  to  do  all  that  is  possible  to  manifest  the  unity 
which  already  exists  among  all  faithful  Christians  in  China 
and  to  present  ourselves.  In  the  face  of  the  great  mass  of 
Chinese  non-Christian  people,  as  one  brotherhood  with  one 
common  name,  this  Conference  suggests  as  the  most  suitable 
name  for  this  purpose  .  .  .  'The  Christian  Church  In 
China.'  ...  This  Conference  urges  upon  the  churches 
.  .  .  federation,  local  and  provincial,  of  all  churches  will- 
ing to  cooperate  in  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of  God." 
{China  Year  Book,  1913,  page  188.) 

"This  Conference  .  .  .  believes  that  in  respect  of  form 
and  organization,  they  (the  churches)  should  have  freedom 
to  develop  In  accord  with  the  most  natural  expression  of  the 
spiritual  instincts  of  Chinese  Christians.  .  .  .  It  Is  of  the 
utmost  importance  for  the  churches  to  be  so  developed  that 
the  Chinese  themselves  may  recognize  them  as  having  become 
truly  native."     {China  Year  Book,  1913,  pages  187-188.) 

"The  missionary  should  bring  the  Christ  to  a  people  and 
let  the  gospel  of  Christ  develop  a  national  type  of  Christian- 
ity."    {Panama  Congress,  Vol.  Ill,  page  166.) 

2.  The  Movement  calls  for  cooperation  In  school  work 
on  the  mission  field,  and  this  not  in  one  class  of  schools,  but 
in  all  classes,  with,  perhaps,  chief  emphasis  upon  theological 
schools. 


The  Union  Movement  45 

Proof:  "We  recommend,  therefore,  that  at  all  these  cen- 
tres colleges  be  promptly  developed,  and  adequately  main- 
tained as  university  colleges,  on  a  union  basis  if  practicable." 
{China  Year  Book]  WIS,  page  2JiS.) 

"We  are  convinced  that  the  best  results  in  theological 
study  will  be  obtained  by  promoting  union  or  cooperative 
efforts  in  theological  colleges  of  university  standard."  {China 
Year  Book,  1913,  page  246.) 

"We  recommend  the  establishment  of  well-equipped  union 
Bible  Training  schools,  preferably  associated  with  union 
theological  seminaries."     {China  Year  Book,  1913,  page  245.) 

"We  recommend  that  middle  schools  and  colleges  be  con- 
ducted on  union  principles  .  .  .  inasmuch  as  provision 
for  higher  theological  instruction  entails  too  heavy  a  burden 
upon  any  single  Mission,  we  recommend  union  in  such  work. 
We  recommend  that,  wherever  possible,  united  summer  Bible 
schools  be  held  in  suitable  centres  for  the  Chinese  church 
workers,  both  men  and  women."  {China  Year  Book,  1913, 
page  213.) 

"But  whether  in  union  or  in  denominational  schools  no 
undue  emphasis  should  be  laid  on  those  doctrines  which  dis- 
tinguish the  evangelical  denominations  from  one  another." 
{Panama  Congress,  Vol.  I,  page  515.) 

"In  no  field  is  there  greater  need  of  combination  of  facul- 
ties and  union  of  institutions  than  among  theological  semin- 
aries. .  .  .  Notwithstanding,  then,  the  difficulties  felt  by 
some  in  uniting  in  this  class  of  schools,  we  feel  that  the 
exigencies  of  the  case  are  imperative  enough  to  require  that 
efforts  in  this  direction  be  among  the  very  first  to  be  under- 
taken in  the  way  of  cooperation."  {Panama  Congress,  Vol.  I, 
page  528.) 

3.  The  program  of  the  Movement  is  a  pronouncement 
against  an  independent  denominational  literature  which  is 
the  peculiar  vehicle  of  free  speech  and  a  powerful  agency  in 
propagating  Christian  truth,  distinctive  principles  and  ex- 
posing heresy. 


46  The  Union  Movement 

Proof:  "The  Societies  and  individuals  engaged  in  the 
production  of  Christian  literature  should  meet  and  discuss 
the  whole  question  of  cooperative  work.  There  should  be  a 
much  larger  measure  of  cooperation  in  this  matter  than  ob- 
tains at  present,  and  we  should  work  toward  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Central  Board  which  could  rectify  the  mistakes 
of  the  past  and  ensure  a  united  progressive  policy  in  such 
matters  as  production,  nomenclature,  printing  and  distribut- 
ing."    [China  Mission  Year  Book,  1913,  po^ge  371.) 

"We  recommend  that  the  various  publication  societies 
use  union  terms  in  the  works  they  issue,  and  that  the  Chris- 
tian bodies  consider  the  great  desirability  of  the  adoption  of 
uniform  theological  and  ecclesiastical  terms."  {China  Mis- 
sion Year  Book,  page  213.) 

"We  recommend  the  uniting  of  our  publishing  houses  and 
our  distributing  agencies  so  far  as  possible;  and  at  each 
larger  centre  we  recommend  the  establishment  of  a  single 
depot."     {China  Mission  Year  Book,  1913,  page  214.) 

"Central  publishing  plants,  a  general  editorial  board,  cen- 
tral depositories  for  literature,  and  union  church  papers,  in 
accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  the  Commission  on 
Literature  seem  advisable."  {Panama  Congress,  Vol.  Ill, 
page  102.) 

The  Panama  Congress  pursued  a  course  similar  to  that 
of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  in  providing  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Movement  through  visitation  of  the  mission  fields, 
except  that  in  the  case  of  the  Panama  Congress,  the  Movement 
being  now  under  way,  action  was  more  speedy. 

"The  Congress  on  Christian  work  in  Latin-America  was 
followed  by  a  series  of  seven  Eegional  Conferences.  The  pro- 
ceedings of  these  Conferences  brought  out  with  such  fulness 
the  essential  situation  and  the  prospective  needs  of  each  dis- 
trict, and  were  so  rich  in  definite  suggestions  for  future  work, 
that  their  publication  became  an  essential  complement  of  the 
report  of  the  Congress.  The  Committee  on  Cooperation  in 
Latin-America  has,  therefore,  authorized  this  volume  as  an 
integral  part  of  the  series  which  records  and  interprets  the 
Congress." 


The  Union  Movement  47 

The  above  quotation  is  taken  from  the  ^'Foreword"  of  the 
report  of  the  series  of  seven  conferences  which  followed  the 
Panama  Congress,  published  under  the  title,  "Regional  Con- 
ferences in  Latin-America."  There  is  not  a  more  illuminating 
document  on  the  uniform  plans  and  fixed  policies  of  the 
Movement  than  this  volume. 

The  series  of  Regional  Conferences  were  held  as  follows: 
That  for  Peru  at  Lima,  Chile  at  Santiago,  Argentina  at 
Buenos  Aires,  Brazil  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Columbia  at  Baran- 
quilla,  Cuba  at  Havana,  Porto  Rico  at  San  Juan.  Dis- 
turbances in  Mexico  prevented  holding  the  conference  there 
at  the  time,  but  perhaps  as  a  substitute  for  this,  a  conference 
on  work  in  Mexico  was  later  held  in  Cincinnati,  in  which  the 
full  program  was  put  on. 

The  initial  conference,  that  for  Peru,  was,  we  are  told, 
opened  in  a  theater  and  "there  was  neither  singing  nor 
prayer.    The  assembly  was  called  to  order  with  a  gavel." 

One  speaker  is  quoted  as  saying  that : 

"This  fundamental  reorganization  involves  in  some  very 
radical  way  the  abandonment  of  the  denominational  order 
of  the  church.  Denominationalism  must  come  to  be  felt  per- 
sonally by  Christ's  followers  as  a  positive  sin.  .  .  .  There 
are  no  good  reasons  why  we  should  have  denominations  to- 
day." 

Another  speaker  reported  with  much  pleasure  and  show 
of  triumph  how  that  in  Korea  the  arrangement  had  been 
made  by  which  "the  Methodists  were  to  become  responsible 
for  work  on  one  side  of  the  line  and  Presbyterians  for  terri- 
tory on  the  other  side.  By  this  division  four  thousand  Pres- 
byterians became  Methodists,"  Self-government  for  the 
native  churches  with  a  vengeance! 

Following  the  established  order  of  the  Movement,  these 
regional  conferences  reduce  their  decisions    to   "Findings." 


48  The  Union  Movement 

These  "Findings"  so  uniformly  contain  the  same  conclusions 
and  put  on  for  the  respective  fields  the  identical  program 
which  was  put  on  in  the  conferences  held  in  India  and  China, 
that  the  record  will  scarcely  have  a  reader  who  is  without 
sufficient  discernment  to  see  the  common  origin  of  these  deci- 
sions. For  instance,  among  the  "Findings"  of  each  regional 
conference  is  that  for  one  evangelical  church  for  the  country 
where  the  conference  was  held,  as,  "The  Evangelical  Peru- 
vian Church,"  "The  Evangelical  Church  in  Chile,"  "The 
Evangelical  Church  of  Porto  Rico." 

The  following  on  cooperation  and  unity,  taken  from  the 
"Findings"  of  the  Chile  Conference,  fairly  represents  the 
program  which  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North 
America  put  on  in  South  America  through  the  Panama  Con- 
gress and  these  regional  conferences : 

*'^C0-0PBRATI0N    and    UnITY. 

"With  the  passing  of  the  years  and  the  consequent  growth 
of  the  churches  of  Chile,  the  conviction  grows  deeper  and 
clearer  to  the  workers  present  in  this  conference,  that  the 
aim  of  our  Christian  work  in  this  country  should  be  the  crea- 
tion of  a  united  Chilean  evangelical  church  undivided  by  the 
denominational  distinctions  which  obtain  in  other  parts  of 
Christendom.  As  intermediate  steps  in  achieving  this  end 
we  approve  all  practicable  measures  of  cooperation  among 
the  recognized  evangelical  bodies.  The  following  plan  for  co- 
operation is  recommended : 

"1.  Division  of  delimitation  of  territory  to  be  readjusted 
from  time  to  time. 

"2.  The  use  of  a  common  name  for  evangelical  churches, 
for  example,  'The  Evangelical  Church  in  Chile.' 

"3.  The  use  of  a  common  hymn  book  and,  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, the  use  of  a  common  version  of  the  Bible. 

"4.  The  organization  of  a  committee  on  cooperation  and 
comity  into  which  all  recognized  evangelical  bodies  at  pres- 
ent at  work  in  Chile  shall  be  invited  to  have  representation. 


The  Union  Movement  49 

"5.  An  agreement  for  the  transfer  of  members  between 
all  recognized  bodies. 

"6.  An  understanding  concerning  the  transfer  of  workers 
and  the  treatment  of  dismissed  agents. 

^'7.  A  general  agreement  for  all  to  respect  the  discipline 
Imposed  by  other  evangelical  churches. 

"8.    A  great  nation-wide  effort  in  evangelization. 

"9.  That  the  present  Bible  seminary  be  enlarged  so  as 
to  admit  students  from  all  recognized  evangelical  bodies. 

"10.  To  extend  the  scope  of  the  present  cooperative  plan 
in  the  production  of  literature  so  as  to  admit  all  regular 
bodies  that  may  desire  to  participate  in  such  work. 

"11.  The  founding  of  a  union  Christian  haspital,  orphan- 
age, and  an  institutional  church  as  soon  as  it  is  possible  to 
do  so. 

"12.  An  inter-denominational  Christian  university  for 
this  part  of  Latin-America  to  be  located  in  Santiago." 

The  above  "Findings"  constitute  a  fair,  though  abbrevi- 
ated statement,  of  the  Movement's  program,  endorsement  of 
which  is  given  by  participation  in  it. 

Compared  with  anything  Southern  Baptists  have  known, 
the  policies  adopted  and  announced  in  the  above  quotations 
are,  to  use  a  term  which  is  as  mild  as  the  case  will  admit, 
radical.  The  whole  organized  life  and  all  the  institutions 
of  the  denomination  have  been  built  up  upon  principles, 
policies  and  practices  w^hich  are  at  distinct  variance  with 
those  which  govern  this  new  order  of  missionary  advance. 
That  anyone  who  knows  the  history  or  holds  the  faith  of  the 
denomination  can  for  one  moment  be  swept  off  his  feet  even 
by  the  strong  sentiment  which  blows,  and  champion  a  Move- 
ment which  has  such  a  platform  as  that  which  is  thus  an- 
nounced, can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  ground  of  strong 
sentiment  and  lack  of  opportunity  to  see  the  whole  Move- 
ment in  perspective.  Southern  Baptists  have  never  estab- 
lished one  church,  constituted  one  board,  built  one  school,  or 
projected  one  missionary  agency  on  any  such  terms  as  these, 
4 


50  The  Union  Movement 

and  there  is  not  one  school  or  other  Baptist  enterprise,  from 
Maryland  to  Texas,  which  seeks  the  fostering  care  of  such  a 
program,  or  whose  friends  would  risk  its  standing  with  the 
denomination  which  supports  it  by  announcing  such  a  plat- 
form for  it.  Then  why  should  it  be  thought  reactionary,  un- 
progressive  or  exceptionally  ungenerous  to  dissent  from  such 
policies  for  the  work  which  the  same  denomination  is  pro- 
jecting on  other  fields,  and  which  the  same  constituency  is 
called  upon  to  support  ?  Just  why  should  a  company  of  men 
who  show  such  entire  disregard  for  the  views  and  practices 
of  all  denominations  as  the  leaders  of  this  Movement  do  be 
considered  the  peculiar  champions  of  Christian  fraternity 
and  courtesy? 

But  as  radical  as  is  the  position  taken  in  the  records 
quoted  above,  even  tJiis  position  is  confessedly  not  the  goal 
of  this  Movement.  Those  who  are  most  worthy  to  be  heard 
for  it  and  who,  from  their  championship  of  it  and  their  part 
in  its  management,  can  speak  with  greatest  authority  tell 
us  that  the  Movement  must  go  further  to  complete  itself. 
Abundant  quotations  could  be  given  to  show  that  even  the 
present  extent  to  which  this  Movement  has  gone  is  not  sat- 
isfying to  its  friends,  and  that  they  steadfastly  aim  at  still 
other  goals  which  lie  within  the  fields  of  respective  denomina- 
tional administration  and  missionary  policy. 

The  following  are  sufficient  to  show  the  inferences  which 
the  friends  of  the  ^lovement  draw  from  denominational  par- 
ticipation in  its  program  and  the  goal  toward  which  they 
are  leading  such  participants. 

In  his  book,  which  he  put  forth  in  defense  of  the  whole 
Union  Movement,  and  which  in  a  competitive  contest  won  for 
him  |1,000,  paid  by  the  Sunday  School  Union,  which  is  the 
champion  of  these  inter-denominational  movements,  Dr.  Rob- 
ert A.  Ashworth  summarizes  certain  items  in  the  program 
as  follows: 


The  Union  Movement  51 

"Meanwhile,  as  we  wait  for  the  realization  of  an  ideal 
unity,  there  must  be  a  larger  measure  of  cooperation  in  the 
survey  of  unoccupied  fields,  a  more  strict  division  of  terri- 
tory among  missionary  agencies,  a  freer  exchange  of  members 
between  all  types  of  churches  and  a  closer  affiliation  in  all 
forms  of  service  where  cooperation  or  union  is  already  pos- 
sible." (Union  of  Christian  Forces  in  America,  hy  Robert 
A.  Ashtvorthy  D.D.,  page  10-^f.) 

The  following  authoritative  utterances  confirm  the  above 
as  reliable  testimony: 

"Territorial  adjustment  usually  prepares  the  way  for 
union  by  virtually  assuming  the  equality  of  churches  and  the 
identity  of  essential  teaching.  For  representatives  of  differ- 
ent communions  to  advise  a  Korean  or  Chinese  convert  to 
join  the  cliurch  within  whose  geographical  area  he  happens 
to  reside,  irrespective  of  its  denominational  type,  is  to  aban- 
don the  whole  basis  of  sectarianism."  {Unity  and  Missions, 
hy  Arthur  J.  Broivn^  page  155.) 

"Alliances,  territorial  divisions  and  all  similar  coopera- 
tive expedients  are  of  limited  and  temporary  value.  They 
are  not  the  goal,  but  merely  steps  towards  it."  {Unity  and 
Missions^  hy  Arthur  J.  Broion^  page  153.) 

"The  federated  churches  must  either  go  forward  toward 
organic  unity,  or  they  must  retrace  the  steps  already  taken. 
Dr.  Newman  Smyth  very  truly  sa^'S,  'Federations  of  churches 
are  to  be  regarded  as  at  best  only  way-stations  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  church;  the  line  of  development  of  true  Catholicity 
runs  on  and  on,  and  our  denominations  are  called  to  be 
through  passengers.  They  shall  not  otherwise  finish  their 
course  in  faith.'"  {Union  of  Christian  Forces  in  America, 
hy  Rohert  A.  Ashworth,  page  215.) 

"All  candidates  should  in  the  future  be  prepared  for  the 
mission  field  by  a  systematic  course  in  the  principles  and 
practices  of  cooperating  agencies  to  organize  and  execute 
their  work  in  the  spirit  of  these  principles."  {Panama  Con- 
ference, Vol.  Ill,  page  103.) 

"Everything  done  cooperatively,  however  insignificant  in 
itself,  is  a  step  towards  the  larger  end."  (Panama  Con- 
gress, Vol.  Ill,  page  78.) 


52  The  Union  Movement 

The  "Findings"  which  the  New  York  organization  se- 
cured from  the  Chilean  Conference,  and  which  we  have 
quoted,  favors  "the  creation  of  a  united  Chilean  Evangelical 
Church  undivided  by  denominational  distinctions  which  ob- 
tain in  other  parts  of  Christendom,"  and  declares  that  the 
planks  in  the  platform  for  present  cooperation  enumerated  in 
these  "Findings,"  are  "intermediate  steps  in  achieving  this 
end."  That  is  admirable  candor.  Nothing  but  the  extermina- 
tion of  present  denominations'  will  satisfy  these  brethren,  and 
they  frankly  publish  the  fact  to  all  concerned.  As  radical  as 
is  strict  delimitation  of  territory,  full  recognition  of  any  or- 
ganization as  a  church  which  calls  itself  such,  free  exchange 
of  church  letters  and  church  members  with  these,  etc..  such 
things  are  "but  intermediate  steps,  of  limited  and  temporary 
value."  "They  are  not  the  goal,  but  merely  steps  toward  it." 
"Denominations  are  called  to  be  through  passengers."  "Ev- 
erything done  cooperatively,  however  insignificant  in  itself,  is 
a  step  toward  this  larger  end."  This  leaves  no  room  for 
anyone  to  doubt  what  participation  in  the  Movement 
means.  It  does  not  present  a  platform  for  denominational 
cooperation  but  for  denominational  extinction  by  consolida- 
tion. It  does  not,  therefore,  represent  inter-denominational- 
ism  but  anti-denominationalism.  Indeed,  denominational  co- 
operation does  not  require  an  extra  missionary  organization 
at  all  with  the  expensive  offices,  the  large  corps  of  secretaries 
and  the  great  annual  outlay  of  this  Move^nent.  If  nothing 
more  than  the  cooperation  of  the  denominational  mission 
hoards  were  sought,  nothing  hut  the  denominational  mission 
hoards  would  he  needed  to  execute  the  plans.  But  inore  and 
mu^h  more  is  sought.  Of  this  we  are  informed  quite  plainly. 
And  a  great  organization  is  created  to  accomplish  it. 

It  is  well  that  we  have  such  explicit  statements  made  by 
men  whom  all  will  concede  to  be  credible  spokesmen  for  the 
Movement.    This  will  enable  all  men  to  see  what  adoption  of 


The  Union  Movement  53 

any  part  of  the  present  plans  for  cooperation  which  have 
been  projected  by  the  Movement  implies.  The  beginning  of 
cooj)eration  with  the  Movement  is,  as  they  inform  us,  hut  a 
step  toward  union  tvith  all  denominations  whatsoever^  and  in 
all  departments  of  mission  work,  and  to  the  destined  end  that 
denominational  identity  shall  cease. 

The  call  for  the  Panama  Congress  told  ns  that, 

"In  the  matter  of  Christian  service,  we  will  welcome  the  co- 
operation of  any  who  are  willing  to  cooperate  in  any  part 
of  the  Christian  program.  We  should  not  demand  union 
with  us  in  all  our  work  as  the  condition  of  accepting  allies 
for  any  part  of  it." 

And 

"All  communions  or  organizations  which  accept  Jesus 
Christ  as  Divine  Saviour  and  Lord,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  the  Kevealed  Word  of  God, 
and  whose  purpose  is  to  make  tiie  will  of  Christ  prevail  in 
Latin-America,  are  cordially  invited  to  participate  in  the 
Panama  Congress,  and  will  be  heartily  welcomed." 

Roman  Catholics  would  be  welcomed,  and  Seventh-Day 
Adventists  are  in  "good  and  regular  standing"  in  the  Move- 
ment. Indeed  it  is  difiScult  to  name  a  denomination,  a  schis- 
matic sect,  or  religious  junto  in  this  country  which  is  not  eli- 
gible to  representation  in  such  an  assembly  and  entitled  to  all 
the  rights  and  privileges. 

In  ordinary  Christian  relations  and  matters  of  coopera- 
tion one  may  choose  his  partners  and  the  class  and  amount  of 
work  in  which  he  cooperates.  But  while  the  friends  of  this 
Movement  do  "not  demand  union  in  all  our  work  as  the  con- 
dition of  accepting  allies,"  such  allies  are  informed  that  once 
admitted  to  membership,  "federated  churches  must  either  go 
forward  to  organic  unity,  or  they  must  retrace  the  steps  al- 


54  The  Union  Movement 

ready  taken."  Now  it  seems  to  us  that  the  simpler  and  more 
agreeable  course  for  the  present  is  to  be  content  with  the 
usual  Christian  relationships.  For  those  who  are  not  will- 
ing to  go  "forward  toward  organic  unity"  with  all  the  various 
elements  which  make  up  the  Movement,  it  is  certainly  a  more 
peaceful  course  to  stay  out  than  to  kick  out. 

With  this  program  announced  and  facing  its  inevitable 
logic,  indeed  the  avowed  purpose  of  those  who  manage  the 
Movement,  Baptists  have  only  to  decide  whether  they  are 
ready  to  volunteer  the  extinction  of  their  historic  position 
and  identity,  and  to  acknowledge  the  right  of  a  few  self- 
appointed  men  to  manage  their  mission  work  and  fix  policies 
for  it. 

Dr.  MacFarland  of  the  Federal  Council,  informs  us — 

"That  another  important  movement  is  an  effort  to  arrange 
for  regular  lectureships  and  course  on  Federation  in  the  cur- 
ricula of  theological  seminaries  and  other  institutions  of 
higher  education."'  (The  Progress  of  Church  Federation — 
page  97.) 

We  are  also  told  that 

"All  candidates  should  in  the  future  be  prepared  for  mis- 
sion fields  by  a  systematic  course  in  the  principles  and  prac- 
tices of  cooperating  agencies  to  organize  and  execute  their 
work  in  the  spirit  of  these  principles."  (Panama  Congress, 
Vol  III,  page  103.) 

Those  who  are  operating  this  Movement  are  set  upon  a 
thoroughgoing  work.  They  do  not  overlook  the  young  people 
in  mission  study  classes,  the  students  in  the  schools,  nor  the 
missionaries  on  the  field.  All  must  be  instructed  in  the  pol- 
icies of  this  Movement  and  enlisted  for  its  promotion  if  com- 
prehensive plans  and  persistent  effort  can  accomplish  this 
end. 


The  Union  Movement  55 

Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  with  his  usually  straightforward 
frankness,  gives  us  a  passage  which  thoughtful  men  will 
ponder : 

"If  a  communion  of  a  million  believers  has  a  vitally  dis- 
tinctive message  to  the  world  which  no  other  communion  is 
adequately  voicing,  the  duty  of  proclaiming  it  inescapably 
rests  upon  each  of  its  consistent  congregations  whether  it  has 
ten  or  ten  hundred  members.  In  that  case,  the  communion 
should  not  only  refuse  to  be  a  party  to  all  such  arrangements 
as  have  been  mentioned,  but  it  should  refuse  to  permit  pulpit 
exchanges  with  ministers  of  other  communions,  decline  to 
accept  certificates  of  membership  from  them  or  to  join  in  any 
cooperative  movements  which  imply  recognition  of  equality, 
and  they  should  plant  their  congregations  wherever  they  can, 
irrespective  of  the  presence  of  other  denominations.  Clergy- 
men who  take  this  position  are  consistent  at  least.  The  fact 
that  this  attitude,  when  taken,  is  now  so  generally  deprecated, 
that  those  who  still  adhere  to  it  usually  consider  themselves 
on  the  defensive,  that  most  communions  gladly  exchange 
pulpits,  intercommune,  accept  one  another's  baptisms,  ordina- 
tions, and  letters  of  membership  transfer,  and  are  manifest- 
ing an  increasing  disposition  to  enter  into  territorial,  federa- 
tive, cooperative,  and  even  union  agreements — these  facts 
eloquently  testify  to  the  breakdown  of  denominationalism. 
It  is  diflacult  to  avoid  the  conclusion  either  that  the  denomi- 
nations should  not  have  gone  so  far  as  they  have,  or  that 
they  should  go  farther  on  the  present  road  which  leads 
straight  to  union.  It  is  clear  that  new  lines  of  cleavage  are 
forming  and  that  these  lines  are  not  running  parallel  with 
denominational  lines  but  are  crossing  them  at  right  angles." 
(Unity  and  Missions,  hy  Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  pages  72-73.) 

We  recommend  that  passage  to  both  the  most  liberal  and 
illiberal  among  us  for  consideration.  It  contains  food  for 
thought,  as  do  most  things  which  Dr.  Brown  writes  in  de- 
fence of  the  union  program,  or  other  subject  connected  with 
missions. 


56  The  Union  Movement 

CHAPTER  V. 

SOME  PLANKS  IN  THE  PLATFORM  EXAMINED. 

The  foregoing  list  of  quotations  has  not  been  extended 
to  include  all  the  objectionable  features  of  the  program 
which  has  been  promulgated,  and  the  weakness  of  the  plat- 
form upon  which  all  denominations  are  asked  to  stand. 
Neither  do  the  limits  fixed  for  this  discussion  admit  of  an 
examination  of  each  plank  designated  by  the  quotations,  nor 
even  an  extended  consideration  of  any  of  them.  We  will, 
however,  undertake  a  brief  examination  of  those  around 
which  most  controversy  has  gathered.  This  will,  we  think, 
be  sufficient  to  show  that  the  platform  is  an  insecure  one, 
and  will  justify  Baptists,  at  least,  in  declining  to  adopt  it 
as  their  own. 

First  of  all,  there  is  this  platform  as  a  fundamental 
weakness,  a  defective  vieiv  of  a  New  Testament  church.  If 
it  is  true  that  the  church  ''is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth,"  and  that  the  churches  are  the  agencies  through  which 
it  is  God's  purpose  to  give  the  gospel  to  the  nations,  then 
certainly  great  care  should  be  taken  to  accept  and  preserve 
correct  definitions  of  a  church  and  sound  views  of  the  place, 
policies  and  functions  of  the  churches.  This,  we  affirm,  the 
makers  of  the  program  have  not  done. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  they  have  adopted  a  definition  of  a 
church  which  is  not  supported  by  so  much  as  one  verse  of 
Scripture.  They  call  the  respective  denominations  churches, 
as  for  instance,  "the  Baptist  church,"  "the  Methodist  church," 
etc.  Of  course,  they  are  not  alone  in  this  use  of  the  word, 
but  such  use  is  nevertheless  a  serious  blunder,  and  especially 
so  in  arguments  for  Christian  union  and  a  serious  effort  to 


The  Union  Movement  57 

reform  Ohristianity.  The  matter  is  made  the  more  serious 
in  the  case  of  its  use  by  the  leaders  of  this  union  Move- 
ment because  it  enables  them  to  becloud  the  issues 
relative  to  the  nature  and  rights  of  real  churches.  This 
and  other  unscriptural  uses  of  the  term  church  occurs 
with  tedious  repetition,  while  one  may  read  whole  volumes 
of  this  literature  without  ever  coming  upon  any  words 
analogous  to  those  with  which  New  Testament  readers  are 
familiar;  such  as  "the  churches  of  Asia,"  "the  church  at 
Antioch,"  "the  church  at  Jerusalem,"  etc.  One  may  say  all 
he  can  in  favor  of  the  scripturalness  of  such  terms  as  an 
invisible,  universal,  spiritual  church,  composed  of  all  who 
have  passed  into  the  kingdom  of  God  through  grace  and  by 
personal  faith  in  Christ,  and  still  find  no  justification  in 
Scripture  for  such  use  of  the  word  church  as  these  writers 
make.  That  they  should  use  a  term  so  unscriptural  and 
offensive  to  a  great  body  of  Christian  people  when  pleading 
for  Christian  union  and  attempting  to  reform  Christendom 
is  one  of  the  anomalies  of  the  present  situation. 

I  am  aware  that  this  is  a  matter  which  many  will  not 
think  serious  enough  to  make  a  fuss  about.  Many  who  have 
seen  the  evil  of  such  unscriptural  use  of  the  term  have  not 
been  willing  to  face  the  high -browed  scorn  which  contention 
here  invites.  Even  some  Baptists  have,  contrary  to  all  Bap- 
tist or  New  Testament  usage,  adopted  the  popular  term 
rather  than  invite  the  cynical  smile  of  those  who  look  upon 
contention  as  puerile.  Nevertheless,  is  it  a  small  thing  to 
call  men  back  to  New  Testament  ideas  and  definitions?  In- 
deed, what  is  all  our  biblical  scholarship  and  criticism  for 
if  such  matters  are  inconsequential?  The  word  church  as 
used  in  the  New  Testament  has  a  very  limited  use  and  very 
particular  significance. 

2.  In  the  plank,  "The  Christian  Church  of  China,"  "The 
Evangelical  Church  of  Mexico,"  etc.,  etc.,  is  found  an  even 


58  The  Union  Movement 

greater  weakness  of  the  platform.  That  so  many  leaders  out 
of  several  denominations  with  their  respective  historical  deri- 
vations could  get  together  in  so  short  a  time  on  a  platform 
with  this  plank  in  it,  is  nothing  less  than  astonishing.  It 
requires  but  a  little  knowledge  of  history  and  little  ability  to 
forecast  consequences  to  enable  one  to  see  that  the  consum- 
mation of  this  ideal  will,  as  certainly  as  realized,  entail  evils 
which  not  only  Baptists  but  others  have  long  deplored.  The 
tendency  in  such  case  is  inevitably  toward  a  national  church. 
Christian  history  admits  of  no  more  plausible  deduction  than 
this.  If  this  idea  gains  favor  w4th  the  denominations  doing 
mission  work  in  China,  and  they  form  a  federation  for  the 
purpose  of  realizing  ''The  Christian  Church  of  China,"  the 
future  will  see  a  State  Church,  an  Establishment,  there,  and, 
in  the  end,  this  will  as  surely  put  blight  upon  Christianity 
in  China  as  the  Church  of  Kome  has  put  blight  upon  Italy 
and  Mexico.  The  language  is  the  language  of  Komanists  and 
semi-Komanists,  adopted  by  men  who  are  neither,  but  who 
ought  to  discard  the  mark. 

The  platform  provides  for  a  sort  of  pooling  or  combina- 
tion of  all  the  "Churches"  or  denominations  in  one  national 
church.  It  ought  not  to  be  necessary  to  say  that  Christianity 
is  not  a  national  religion  and  a  church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not 
a  national  institution.  No  man  is  sent  out  under  the  Com- 
mission to  establish  a  Christianity  with  a  national  name,  or 
a  church  with  either  racial  peculiarities  or  with  national 
boundaries.  Political  divisions  do  not  alter  New  Testament 
ideas  of  truth  and  ecclesiastical  polity.  A  church,  although 
a  local  and  single  organization,  is  a  definitely  prescribed  in- 
stitution and  a  world  power  with  a  world  parish.  The 
Apostles  did  not  foster  an  institution  delimited  by  national 
boundaries  or  racial  names. 

This  idea  of  a  National  Church  is  popularized  by  much 
being  said  about  "a  self-governing,"  "self-supporting"  and 


The  Union  Movembnt  59 

"self-propagating"  church.  It  may  be  appropriate,  and  I 
doubt  not  to  some  illuminating,  to  state  here  that  Baptists 
have  no  other  ideal  for  a  church  than  that  it  shall  be  self- 
governing,  self-supporting  and  self-propagating.  The  differ- 
ence, however,  between  Baptists  and  these  friends  of  the  "in- 
digenous church"  and  "national  church"  is  in  the  meaning 
of  the  word  church.  Some  who  figure  largely  in  these  confer- 
ences, and  talk  much  about  the  self-governing  church  would 
not,  we  dare  say,  talk  thus,  if  it  were  understood  that  a 
church  is  a  single,  local  New  Testament  organization.  You 
may  perhaps  have  a  self-governing  "Church,"  in  their  under- 
standing of  the  term,  but  you  cannot  have  self-governing 
"churches"  on  the  program  of  this  Union  Movement.  The 
administrators  of  the  Movement  do  not  even  leave  the  de- 
nominations unembarrassed  in  controlling  their  mission 
work. 

One  evil  growing  out  of  this  broad  idea  of  what  a  church 
is  has  already  appeared  on  the  mission  fields,  and  a  great 
evil  it  is;  namely,  the  development  of  an  amazing  disregard 
for  the  sacred  rights  of  the  only  institution  which  can  with 
propriety  be  called  a  church.  The  rights  of  the  churches  are 
violated  in  the  interest  of  The  Church.  The  whole  question 
of  the  delimitation  of  territory  is  based  upon  disregard  for 
the  most  sacred  rights  of  churches. 

"In  making  territorial  boundary  lines  so  as  to  avoid  over- 
lapping, numerous  churches  have  been  shifted  bodily  from 
one  communion  to  another  by  formal  agreement  of  the  gov- 
erning bodies  on  the  field."  (Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  in  Unity 
and  Missions,  page  — .) 

That  sounds  strange  coming  from  the  same  source  that 
the  plea  for  a  self-governing  church  comes  from.  It  is  to 
be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  institution  which  Baptists 
call  a  church,  and  for  which  they  have  reverent  respect,  is 


60  The  Union  Movement 

not  the  thing  which  these  friends  call  "the  Church,"  and  it  is 
thus  that  a  great  evil  is  enacted.  If  these  gentlemen  accepted 
the  word  church  as  designating  a  sacred  institution,  pos- 
sessed of  peculiar  nature,  function  and  rights,  no  governing 
body  would  dare  shift  one  of  the  churches  bodily  from  one 
communion  to  another.  Indeed,  there  would  be  no  governing 
body  thus  to  legislate  for  a  church. 

A  primary  question  is  raised  by  this  whole  discussion.  Can 
it  be  possible  that  the  New  Testament,  which  is  the  Chris- 
tian's "Kule  of  Faith  and  Practice,"  is  without  specifications 
for  a  church,  the  institution  through  which  the  world  is  to 
be  saved?  Has  the  Architect  of  Christianity  left  no  plans 
for  that  institution  upon  which  the  security  and  promulga- 
tion of  truth  depends  ?  Is  this  primary  Christian  institution 
left  to  new  and  uninstructed  converts  to  constitute  as  they 
please,  or  any  set  of  men  to  play  with  as  they  would  buttons 
on  a  checkerboard? 

"Jesus  never  taught  a  system  of  theology,  nor  ordained 
a  priesthood,  or  even  an  official  ministry,  nor  organized  a 
church.  The  purpose  of  Jesus  was  to  propagate  a  spirit,  not 
to  establish  an  institution.  He  seems  to  have  been  willing 
that  the  form  should  shape  itself  so  long  as  the  content  and 
purpose  were  good.  He  spoke  of  'one  flock,'  not  of  'one  fold,' 
with  the  ecclesiastical  associations  that  such  a  term  suggests 
— 'they  shall  become  one  flock,  one  shepherd.'  He  prayed 
that  they  who  believed  on  him  might  be  one,  leaving  it  to  the 
spirit  of  love,  without  which  no  mode  of  unity  is  possible, 
to  determine  what  form  would  manifest  it  best."  {Union 
of  Christian  Forces  in  America,  hy  Robert  A.  Ashworth,  page 

Such  disregard  for  the  sanctity  and  rights  of  churches  as 
would  shift  them  "bodily  from  one  communion  to  another"  is 
consistent  where  such  views  are  held. 


The  Union  Movement  61 

3.  The  phrase,  an  "indigenous  church,"  has  become  popu- 
lar in  recent  years.  Its  use  is  one  of  those  instances  in  this 
modern  age  when  a  new  word  first  spoken,  a  new  theory  first 
advanced,  by  thoughtful  men  it  may  be,  soon,  like  a  new 
bonnet  or  a  new  cut  of  gown,  becomes  a  fashion,  a  fad,  and 
runs  to  extremes.  The  indigenous  church  idea  is  one  of  those 
fancies  which  sometimes  take  possession  of  men  of  a  certain 
religious  temperament.  To  be  sure,  it  has  for  thoughtful 
men  a  grain  of  truth,  but  it  is  that  truth  we  must  make  sure 
of,  or  we  turn  the  whole  matter  into  an  ism.  As  in  the  case 
of  other  things  scientific  and  theological,  the  author  of  this 
particular  word  has  his  voice  multiplied  in  many  echoes.  It 
provokes  a  smile  that  some  should  think  that  each  faint  echo 
indicates  such  breadth,  intellectual  capacity  and  originality. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  sense  in  which  Christianity  should 
become  indigenous  to  China.  That  is  to  say,  we  should  look 
forward  to  the  day  when  New  Testament  Christianity  shall 
express  itself  through  the  Chinese  language,  get  itself  illus- 
trated in  Chinese  life  and  character,  and  when  the  Chinese 
shall  expound  its  truth,  foster,  control  and  propagate  its 
institutions,  and  offer  to  the  world  its  products ;  when  Chris- 
tianity shall  be  the  natural  and  normal  life  of  the  Chinese 
or  Japanese  people.  That  is  desirable,  and  all  should  aim 
at  the  realization  of  such  an  ideal.  But  we  begin  to  realize 
that  ideal  whenever  we  preach  with  faithfulness  the  truth  of 
the  New  Testament,  and  that  truth  is  received  into  the  inner 
life  of  any  single  Chinese  or  Japanese.  There  is  no  other 
way  by  which  we  may  perfectly  realize  this  ideal.  This  view 
of  the  matter  does  not  presage  the  much  vaunted  postulate 
of  an  indigenous  church  which  in  China  or  Japan  shall  be 
radically  different  from  a  New  Testament  church  and  New 
Testament  Christianity  in  any  other  land,  or  necessarily 
different  at  all.  Certainly,  before  we  start  on  our  mission,  we 
ought  to  drop  those  things  from  our  message  which  belong 


62  The  Union  Movement 

to  one  race,  nation,  or  section  merely,  and  all  unscriptural 
inheritances  from  dead  controversies,  as  well  as  the  cockle- 
burs  of  political  and  ecclesiastical  parties  and  prejudices. 
We  ought  to  do  all  of  this  whether  we  stay  at  home  or  go 
to  the  mission  fields.  But  if  we  leave  our  untaught  converts 
from  heathenism  to  evolve  a  theology  and  churches  out  of 
racial  and  national  consciousness  and  environment,  we  will 
leave  them  the  sure  victims  of  creeds  and  sects  as  bad  as  any 
we  know,  although  not  identical. 
This  is  the  Union  program: 

"Each  indigenous  church  in  the  mission  field  will  gradu- 
ally, out  of  these  elements,  build  up  that  body  of  Christian 
doctrine  and  that  form  of  polity  which  is  best  adapted  to 
its  life."     {Edinburgh  Conference,  Vol.  VIII,  pages  134-5-) 

Can  anyone  guess  what  such  a  doctrine  and  polity  will 
be?  Certainly  the  scheme  is  advocated  on  the  pre-supposi- 
tion  that  doctrine  and  polity  will  be  different  from  anything 
with  which  the  home  constituencies  are  familiar,  and  that 
they  will  differ  on  the  respective  mission  fields.  In  the  face 
of  such  a  program  the  question  is  forced :  Does  Christianity 
not  offer  to  the  world  a  reliable  and  sacred  body  of  truth 
and  furnish  an  authentic  standard  in  such  important  matters 
as  these?  Are  the  churches  of  Jesus  Christ  really  to  sub- 
stitute for  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  criterion  of  doctrine 
and  polity  the  feelings,  preferences  and  prejudices,  or  even 
the  consciences  of  raw  converts  from  heathenism?  Are  we 
really  without  an  essential  and  unalterable  message  for  the 
mission  fields?  Have  we  nothing  to  teach  our  converts? 
What  have  we  been  telling  the  heathen  world  hitherto,  any- 
how? If  we  have  told  them  that  Christ  has  commissioned 
us  to  preached  revealed  truth  to  them,  shall  we  now  tell  them 
we  have  been  mistaken?    And  must  we  all  say  this  in  con- 


The  Union  Movement  63 

cert?  The  days  of  martyrdom  will  have  fjassed  when  this 
sort  of  thing  gains  currency. 

The  Baptist  position  has  been  a  long  protest  against 
creeds  evolved  and  compounded  out  of  circumstance,  and 
Baptists  have  declined  to  attach  historical  excrescences 
to  their  message.  They  are  not,  therefore,  under  necessity 
of  detaching  themselves  from  them.  For  this  reason  the 
Baptist  situation  ought  not  to  be  confounded  or  confused 
with  that  of  others.  Those  who  have  New  Testament 
churches  at  home  do  not  need  to  change  the  type  in  going 
to  China.  Those  who  have  churches  which  are  unsuited  to 
China,  ought  to  change  them  in  America.  New  Testament 
churches  are  universally  adaptable.  One  is  made  to  wonder 
if  our  Christian  friends  who  are  so  enamored  of  self-govern- 
ing, self-supporting  and  self-propagating  churches  have  ever 
really  reflected  that  this  is  a  trite  historical  ideal  and  prin- 
ciple with  Baptists. 

Certain  speakers  and  writers  on  the  indigenous  church 
have  simply  forced  a  logic  which  is  at  variance  with  the  pri- 
mary facts  in  the  case.  Incongruous  and  unrelated  matters 
have  been  made  to  do  service  as  major  and  minor  premises. 
That  which  has  misled  these  speakers  and  writers  into  such 
freakish  logic  is  their  desire  to  get  rid  of  denominational 
convictions  as  a  barrier  to  immediate  union  and  cooperation 
in  mission  work  and  strengthen  the  administration  of  the 
Movement.  They  tell  us  that  the  Christianity  which  will 
most  surely  effect  the  redemption  of  China  must  be  a  Chinese 
Christianity.  Now,  it  requires  but  a  little  reflection  to  dis- 
cover that  this  argument  would  repeal  the  Commission  itself. 
Jesus  commands  us  to  "go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature,"  and  as  a  part  of  the  same  Com- 
mission, we  are  instructed  to  teach  men  and  specifically  in- 
formed what  to  teach  them  to  observe.    A  man  who  preaches 


64  The  Union  Movement 

the  gospel  to  the  nations  has  quite  definite  truths  to  preach 
and  equally  definite  duties  to  teach. 

In  interpreting  the  gospel  revelation  to  the  East  and 
fostering  a  Christianity  in  close  conformity  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament, we  are  not  imposing  an  alien  institution  upon  the 
Oriental  nature.  We  got  our  Bible  and  Christianity  out  of 
the  East,  and  the  man  who  faithfully  interprets  this  to  Orien- 
talists has  a  message  designed  for  them  and  suited  to  them. 
The  missionary  is  charged  with  this  duty.  A  faithful  inter- 
pretation will  insure  a  perfect  adaptation.  Indeed,  the  fact 
that  we  are  taking  back  to  the  East  that  which  we  got  out 
of  the  East  furnishes  a  strong  reason  for  faithful  and  close 
interpretation  of  the  New  Testament  on  Eastern  fields  in 
particular.  The  gospel  was  first  tried  in  the  East  and  found 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  East,  and  it  will  again  meet  those 
needs  if  we  will  faithfully  transport  it,  although  the  Orien- 
tal mind  has  become  so  beclouded  and  perverted  by  error  that 
it  cannot  now  without  help  interpret  the  gospel  for  itself. 
The  same  New  Testament  and  the  same  gospel  have  been  pro- 
vided for  all  nations.  The  missionary  ideal  which  will  prove 
most  fruitful  is  a  faithful  proclamation  and  propagation  of 
the  gospel  and  a  full  obedience  to  it. 

An  indigenous  church  which  is  built  without  stalwart 
personal  convictions  of  the  inviolableness  of  Christian  truth 
as  expounded  in  the  New  Testament  cannot  serve  China  in 
her  plight.  If  the  gospel  preached  there  and  the  churches 
constituted  there  are  not  fashioned  after  the  specifications 
drawn  by  inspiration,  the  gospel  will  perish,  "the  Church" 
will  topple  before  it  is  built,  and  the  nation  which  witnesses 
the  collapse  will  be  the  sufferer.  On  the  heads  ,of  Chinese 
and  Japanese  will  fall  the  debris  of  this  unsubstantial  struc- 
ture as  surely  as  a  fateful  catastrophe  has  befallen  all  Roman 
Catholic  countries  of  the  globe.  Where  men  have  built  the 
ecclesiastical  structure  without  consulting  the  New  Testa- 


The  Union  Movement  65 

ment  plans,  and  wherever  Christianity  is  not  a  revolutioniz- 
ing, reconstructing,  regulating,  original  and  unique  force  in 
any  nation  and  civilization,  the  result  has  been  calamitous 
for  both  Christianity  and  the  nation.  A  Latin  Christianity 
has  been  a  curse  to  the  Latin  peoples  and  a  Chinese  Chris- 
tianity will  curse  China.  The  missionaries  and  mission 
boards  should  keep  in  mind  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  from 
heaven,  and  that  we  cannot  build  into  it  wood,  hay  and 
stubble  of  either  personal  or  racial  preference  and  pride, 
the  social  or  political  elements  of  any  nation  or  people. 

Native  churches  and  communities  which  are  "determined 
to  develop  along  lines  characteristic  of  their  own  civiliza- 
tion and  in  forms  indigenous  to  it"  have  suffered  neglect  of 
proper  instruction  by  somebody  and  need  firm  grounding  in 
the  faith  of  the  gospel.  They  need  one  like  Jude  to  exhort 
them  that  they  "should  earnestly  contend  for  the  faith  once 
for  all  delivered  to  the  saints"  (Jude  3).  Such  a  regime  as 
that  which  is  proposed  will  probably  either  multiply  sects  in- 
stead of  advance  ultimate  union,  or,  after  a  while,  persecute 
independent  believers. 

What  China  most  needs  is  that  which  China  is  most  with- 
out, namely,  a  thoroughly  vitalizing  gospel,  and  that  experi- 
ence of  God  which  such  a  gospel  alone  can  produce.  It  can- 
not have  this  without  a  conscience  for  spiritual  and  moral 
values  and  a  conviction  of  truth  that  will  not  bend.  If  mis- 
sionaries carry  the  advice  to  the  Chinese  that  they  must  origi- 
nate a  Chinese  Christianity,  the  result  will  be  a  conglomerate 
of  human  nature,  personal  pride,  national  vanity,  with  ele- 
ments from  other  religions  and  an  insufficient  ingredient  of 
pure  Christianity  to  effect  the  salvation  of  men  and  the 
women  who  compose  the  nation.  Says  Prof.  Fred  L.  Ander- 
son :  "Only  out  of  red-hot  guns  of  intelligence  and  wide-eyed 
conviction  can  we  ever  throw  shells  with  velocity  and  power 
enough  to  smash  the  concrete  Li^ge  forts  of  hoary  supersti- 
tion." 
5 


66  The  Union  Movement 

After  all,  this  whole  matter  resolves  itself  into  this  sim- 
ple question:  Are  we  under  a  Commission  to  carry  to  China 
and  the  world  a  definite,  explicit,  unique  message?  That 
Jesus  specified  something  which  must  be  carried  by  those 
whom  He  commanded  to  go  no  one  can  successfully  dispute. 
The  Commission  was  and  is  stated  in  such  language  that  it 
was  not  and  need  not  be  misunderstood.  It  cannot  be  inter- 
preted vaguely  or  treated  indifferently  by  those  who  recognize 
His  authority. 

Jesus  gave  a  message  in  which  the  duties  required  were 
defined  in  such  simple  terms  that  all  the  mission  boards  in 
America  doing  work  in  China  could,  if  they  would  let  the 
New  Testament  and  its  scholarly  interpreters  speak,  quickly 
settle  all  their  difi'erence  as  to  what  these  duties  are;  and 
when  these  were  settled,  they  would  possess  a  message  of  such 
simplicity  and  power  that  they  could,  by  agreement  to  carry 
ity  and  it  alone,  and  all  of  it,  multiply  missionary  results  in 
one  year  to  a  degree  that  they  cannot  in  ten  years  by  dodging 
the  terms  in  the  Commission  upon  which  there  is  disagree- 
ment, and  by  confusing  issues  with  much  talk  about  getting 
together  without  first  removing  the  things  which  separate 
them.  Surrendering  the  terms  of  that  Commission  and  talk- 
ing about  union  may  for  a  time  be  a  pleasant  pastime,  or 
even  occupation,  for  some  very  agreeable  and  deferential 
souls,  but  such  a  program  will  not  secure  the  healing  of  the 
nations..  Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown  says  with  admirable  frank- 
ness: 

"Candour  calls  for  the  admission  that  the  advocates  of 
union  are  also  reenforced  by  men  who  have  no  real  earnest- 
ness of  conviction,  who  care  little  for  any  particular  doc- 
trines."    (Unity  of  Missions — page  238.) 

The  distinguished  Prof.  Gustav  Warneck,  of  Halle,  in  a 
letter  to  the  World  Missionary  Conference  at  Edinburgh, 


The  Union  Movement  67 

gave   expression   to   the   following   observations   which    are 
timely  for  the  present  discussion : 

"The  effort  to  reach  non-Christian  peoples,  and  to  bring 
them  into  the  heart  of  the  gospel,  must  never  lead  us  to  alter 
the  content  of  the  gospel  as  proclaimed  by  the  apostles.  The 
vital  impulses  which  lie  at  the  root  of  Christian  missionary 
effort  equally  with  the  forces  by  which  the  non-Christian 
world  can  alone  be  regenerated  are  contained  in  the  gospel 
of  Christ  as  the  apostles  proclaimed  it,  and  which  they  knew 
by  experience  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every- 
one that  believeth.  In  problems  which  face  the  Christian 
church  today,  we  have  not  to  do  merely  with  methods,  but 
with  the  existence  of  the  church  itself.  The  honor  of  our 
missionary  work  lies  essentially  not  in  method,  but  in  the 
substance  of  this  gospel,  in  the  men  who  proclaim  it  with  the 
full  assurance  of  faith,  and  in  the  Christians  who  have  been 
regenerated  by  it  to  a  new  life  of  righteousness.  Herein  are 
the  potent  sources  of  our  power." 

Again  we  say,  let  those  who  insist  upon  a  Christianity 
for  the  Orient  which  is  not  Occidental,  reflect  that  we  got 
our  Christianity  out  of  the  East,  that  this  Oriental  Chris- 
tianity fits  the  Occidental  mind  and  nature,  and  it  may  be 
expected  to  fit  the  Orient  if  we  take  scrupulous  care  to  return 
it  in  its  pristine  purity.  There  is  nothing  in  the  type  of 
men  and  women  in  China  and  Japan  to  contradict  this  rule. 
The  Bible  and  the  gospel  are  in  earthly  manifestation  Orien- 
tal in  origin,  and  a  Christianity  which  a  faithful  proclama- 
tion establishes  will  be  sufficiently  Oriental.  There  was  just 
one  gospel  for  "Parthians,  and  Medes,  and  Elamites,  and  the 
dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  and  in  Judiea,  and  Cappadocia,  in 
Pontus,  and  Asia,  Phrygia,  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt,  and 
in  the  parts  of  Libya  about  Cyrene,  and  strangers  of  Eome, 
Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretes  and  Arabians"  (Acts  2:  9-11). 
We  cannot  see  how  living  on  one  side  of  the  Pacific  Ocean 
or  the  other  has  anything  to  do  with  the  nature  of  the  gos- 


68  The  Union  Movement 

pel  or  the  New  Testament  institution  which  is  appointed 
to  preserve  and  propagate  it.  Paul  preached  the  same  gos- 
pel and  organized  the  same  sort  of  churches  on  the  western 
side  of  the  ^gean  and  among  Europeans  that  he  did  on 
the  eastern  side  and  among  Asiatics.  Indeed,  he  seems  dili- 
gently to  have  avoided  incorporating  western  ideals  into  the 
churches.  The  evil  began  when  this  was  done.  When  the 
imperialism  of  the  Koman  Empire  became  operative  in  Chris- 
tianity for  the  purpose  of  making  it  "indigenous,"  the  Roman 
Catholic  hierarchy  was  predetermined  and  apostolic  Chris- 
tianity began  to  wane.  Fashioned  on  such  a  model,  "the 
Church"  became  imperialistic. 

A  faithful  preaching  of  the  duties  required  in  the  Com- 
mission create  no  difficulties  for  a  truly  indigenous  church 
in  any  land  or  among  any  people.  If  we  really  covet  for 
Chinese  and  Japanese  a  religion  which  just  suits  their 
natures  and  their  environment,  our  chief  concern  should  be 
faithfully  and  exactly  to  interpret  and  expound  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  Christianity  which  we  find  in  these  Scriptures. 
Any  compromising,  or  side-stepping  the  terms  of  the  Commis- 
sion will  defeat  our  purpose  and  produce  a  maladjustment 
of  religion  and  religious  institutions  to  the  lives  of  the  peo- 
ple and  the  nations.  Mischief  will  surely  come  of  false  or 
careless  exegesis,  and  of  having  Christian  institutions  fash- 
ioned by  the  natives  without  first  having  taught  them  in  the 
Scriptures  and  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  of  failing  to 
render  their  consciences  keenly  sensitive  to  the  truth  which 
constitutes  the  Christian  message  and  is  the  steel  framework 
of  the  whole  Christian  structure.  The  world  needs  a  true 
and  full  translation,  interpretation  and  exposition  of  the 
New  Testament,  a  faithful  proclamation  of  truth  and  the 
indoctrination  of  Christian  disciples,  as  well  as  an  exemplifi- 
cation of  the  Christianity  which  is  standardized  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.    That  is  our  great  missionary  business,  and  this 


The  Union  Movement  69 

will  produce  the  much  lauded  indigenous  Christianity.  The 
churches  which  will  naturally  issue  from  such  a  process  will 
take  care  of  evangelical  Christianity  in  China,  and  will  at 
the  same  time  effect  the  redemption  of  the  Chinese  people. 

We  have  a  present  task  in  begetting  a  conscience  for  this 
sort  of  missionary  propaganda,  not  in  moderating  the  sensi- 
tiveness of  the  Christian  conscience  for  Christian  truth  by 
compromise  and  termless  agreements  with  those  against 
whose  errors  we  have  always  protested.  Better  a  little 
longer  the  welter  of  controversy  which  gives  evidence  of  per- 
sonal and  strong  conviction,  than  build  a  Christianity  in 
China  upon  a  conscience  which  is  too  accommodating  and 
too  easily  adaptable  to  suggestions  without  a  "thus  saith 
the  Lord"  for  them.  The  victories  of  the  Cross  were  never 
won  by  men  who  quickly  raise  or  run  to  flags  of  truce.  The 
Chinese  converts  who  are  eventually  to  carry  the  gospel  to 
victory  throughout  China  and  sti^ngthen  the  Christian  forces 
for  the  salvation  of  the  world  will  be  men  and  women  who 
are  propelled  by  the  force  of  exalted  views  of  the  sure  verity 
of  the  universal  and  unchangeable  gospel.  Such  men  will 
render  their  message  apprehensible  by  giving  it  definition, 
and  they  will  give  it  dynamic  by  the  invincible  passion  with 
which  they  declare  it  and  insist  upon  it  being  savor  of 
life  unto  life  and  of  death  unto  death.  Clear  definition  of 
message,  personal  conviction  of  the  truth  which  it  contains 
and  a  passion  for  converts  to  it  are  indispensible  qualifica- 
tions for  effectual  missionary  service. 

Mere  deferentialness,  will  not  stand  the  test  to  which 
the  churches  of  Christ  ai^  again  to  be  subjected.  The 
holy  passion  for  truth  which  drives  men  to  prayerful  and 
serious  study  of  the  Word  of  God  for  the  settlement  of  ques- 
tions in  dispute  will  effect  the  evangelization  of  the  world 
and  the  unification  of  believers,  if  these  ends  are  ever  at- 
tained.    There  will  always  be  human  need  which  only  the 


70  The  Union  Movement 

truth  will  satisfy.  It  is  the  man  with  a  message  and  a  con- 
viction of  its  supreme  importance  who  is  convincing.  That 
man  is  sailing  in  shallow  water  whose  sympathies  are  broader 
than  his  convictions  are  deep.  Sooner  or  later  all  such  men 
and  the  Christian  enterprises  which  they  seek  to  conduct  will 
strike  the  bars  and  will  be  imperiled  by  the  breakers. 

If  we  would  see  an  indigenous  Christianity  and  indigen- 
ous churches  in  China  and  Japan,  our  first  concern  should 
be  that  the  Christianity  and  the  churches  which  we  plant 
there  are  in  close  conformity  to  the  New  Testament.  That 
denominationalism  which  is  first  squared  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament can  be  trusted  to  serve  the  ends  of  the  gospel  in  any 
land.  That  combination  of  denominations  which,  disregard- 
ing this  criterion,  is  bent  upon  an  indigenous  church,  will 
in  time  give  the  world  another  example  of  a  conglomerate  of 
heterogeneous  elements  of  heathen  religions,  national,  polit- 
ical and  racial  peculiarities,  and,  as  a  result,  a  feeble  Chris- 
tianity. For  nearly  two  milleniums  parts  of  the  world  have 
suffered  the  consequences  of  a  similar  blunder. 

The  most  sensible  and  important  deliverance  on  this 
matter  of  an  indigenous  Christianity  we  have  come  across  is 
from  the  pen  of  a  distinguished  Japanese  Christian  and  sol- 
dier. Col.  F.  Oshima.  We  commend  his  thoughtful  words  to 
those  who  have  become  enamored  of  the  indigenous  church 
idea  which  figures  so  large  in  federation  sentiment,  and  who 
insist  so  strongly  upon  orientalized  Christianity.  We  give 
but  a  brief  extract  from  a  thrilling  message  by  this  Japanese 
patriot  to  his  people: 

"Buddhism  and  Confusianism  with  compromise  and 
syncretism  were  able  to  make  comfortable  terms  with  our 
indigenous  ideals.  But  in  the  case  of  Christianity  the  only 
alternative  is,  shall  Christianity  be  Japonicised,  or  shall 
Japan  be  Christianized?  There  is  no  room  for  compromise. 
Speaking  as  an  ordinary  patriot,  I  naturally  desire  to  see 


The  Union  Movement  71 

Christianity  Japonicised,  but  when  I  reflect  on  Judaism,  I 
know  that  if  Christianity  were  Japonicised,  Japan  would  be 
cut  off  from  the  world's  life  and  be  doomed  to  decay.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  our  ancient  faiths  are  filled  out  and  exalted 
and  universalized  by  Christianity,  then  our  nation  shall 
grow  and  flourish  and  fulfill  a  glorious  mission  in  the  world. 
Christianity  is  neither  Occidental  nor  Oriental.  Like  the 
power  of  gravitation,  it  is  all-inclusive." 

There  is  indeed  ground  for  doubt  that  the  call  for  "the 
Christian  Church  in  China,"  the  "indigenous  Church,"  etc., 
was  conceived  in  China  or  the  foreign  field  at  all.  There  is 
on  the  contrary  very  strong  evidence  that  the  idea  was  sug- 
gested, as  it  certainly  has  been  popularized,  by  men  who  were 
not  Orientals  at  all,  although  very  naturally  the  suggestion 
has  been  received  with  some  pride  by  certain  natives.  From 
various  quarters  the  echoes  of  it  were  heard  at  more  or  less 
frequent  intervals  prior  to  the  World  Missionary  Confer- 
ence at  Edinburgh,  but  since  that  meeting  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Continuation  Committee,  and  since  Dr.  John  K. 
Mott's  series  of  conferences  in  the  Orient,  this  idea  has  be- 
come the  slogan  of  unionism.  The  chairman  of  the  Contin- 
uation Committee  went  abroad  to  put  on  the  program  of  the 
Edinburgh  Conference: 

"Both  the  missionaries  and  the  Chinese  Christian  leaders 
were  ready,  therefore,  for  the  message  of  the  Edinburgh  Mis- 
sionary Conference  so  strongly  stated  by  its  chairman  in  his 
opening  address  at  each  Conference.  They  were  prepared  to 
face  together  the  whole  task  that  is  confronting  the  Chris- 
tian forces  in  China.  They  recognized  that  the  days  of  in- 
dependent action  were  past,  and  that,  if  they  were  to  act 
together,  they  must  first  get  together  in  conference  to  decide 
upon  plans  of  united  action."  {China  Mission  Year  Book, 
19 IS,  page  63.) 

That  opening  address  fixed  the  key  for  each  of  these  con- 
ferences in  harmony  with  the  ideals  of  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee. 


72  The  Union  Movement 

The  Edinburgh  Conference  was  held  in  1910,  the  Continu- 
ation Committee  conferences  were  held  in  1912  and  1913,  in 
India,  China  and  Japan.  Dr.  Mott's  guiding  mind  and  genius 
were  manifest  in  all  the  plans  and  policies  of  these  confer- 
ences. The  records  of  these  wildly  scattered  conferences 
give  uniform  evidence  of  the  incorporation  of  the  program  of 
the  Continuation  Committee  and  the  ideas  of  its  chairman. 
It  is  not  conceivable  that  certain  ideas  should  have  so  pos- 
sessed these  various  groups  in  different  nationalities,  sur- 
rounded by  varying  conditions,  and  each  group  trained  un- 
der more  or  less  different  auspices,  had  they  been  left  with- 
out suggestion.  Granting  a  thing  so  improbable,  one  would 
still  have  to  account  for  the  identical  terms  in  which  the 
ideas  were  expressed  in  the  conclusions  of  these  conferences 
from  Madras  to  Calcutta  and  from  Canton  to  Shanghai, 
and  later  in  the  conferences  throughout  South  America.  The 
conferences  were,  as  a  matter  of-  fact,  far  more  exposi- 
tory of  the  program  which  the  Continuation  Committee  was 
designed  to  carry  out  than  they  were  of  the  predisposition 
and  deliberate  demands  of  the  respective  national  groups. 
The  proof  is  overwhelming. 

We  quote  the  following  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  Cal- 
cutta Conference: 

"This  Conference  is  of  the  opinion  that  there  is  undoubt- 
edly a  strong  desire  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Indian  Christian  community  for  a  comprehensive  church 
organization  adapted  to  the  country.  While  the  community 
as  a  whole,  as  might  be  expected  from  its  origin  and  history, 
cannot  be  said  to  have  shown  any  strong  and  widespread  de- 
sire in  this  direction,  neither  can  it  be  said  that  there  is  any- 
thing within  the  community  itself  which  would  militate 
against  the  realization  of  such  an  ideal.  This  Conference, 
therefore,  considers  that  every  facility  should  be  afforded 
for  the  spread  and  development  of  this  desire  in  the  Indian 
community  at  large.    While  this  Conference  believes  that  the 


The  Union  Movement  73 

Indian  Church  should  continue  to  receive  and  absorb  every 
good  influence  which  the  Church  of  the  West  may  impart, 
it  also  believes  that  in  resj>ect  of  forms  and  organization 
the  Indian  Church  should  have  entire  freedom  to  develop  on 
such  lines  as  will  conduce  to  the  most  natural  expression  of 
the  spiritual  instincts  of  Indian  Christians." 

While  "there  was  no  strong  and  widespread  desire  in  this 
direction  within  the  community,"  there  was  nothing  to  "mil- 
itate against  the  realization  of  such  an  ideal,"  it  was  decided 
that  "every  facility  should  be  afforded  for  the  spread  and 
development"  of  the  ideal  of  an  indigenous  church.  There- 
fore "the  one  united  Indian  Church"  idea  was  fully  launched, 
and  provincial  and  federal  councils  were  projected  for  a 
thorough  carrying  out  of  the  policies  of  the  Edinburgh  Con- 
ference. 

The  report  of  the  conference  in  Canton  in  turn  shows 
the  same  earmarks.  The  following  is  quoted  from  the  re- 
port of  one  of  the  China  conferences : 

".  .  .  While,  however,  the  Chinese  Church  should  con- 
tinue to  receive  and  absorb  every  good  influence  which  the 
Church  of  the  West  can  impart,  it  should,  in  respect  of  forms 
and  organization,  have  entire  freedom  to  develop  in  accord 
with  the  most  natural  expression  and  largest  cultivation  of 
spiritual  instincts  of  Chinese  people."  {Unity  of  Christian 
Forces  of  America,  page  1918.) 

How  remarkable  that  Indians  and  Chinese  should  decide 
to  "receive  and  absorb  every  good  influence  which  the  Church 
of  the  West  can  impart,"  and  yet  develop  on  lines  of  "natural 
expression  and  spiritual  instincts,"  respectively! 

Can  anybody  doubt  the  common  source  of  this  identical 
language  used  in  these  conferences  in  India  and  China? 

"The  Conferences  at  Tsinan-fu,  Pekin  and  Hankow,"  to 
quote  Dr.  Ashworth,  a  champion  of  the  program,  "expressed 
their  convictions  in  practically  identical  terms."     It  is  evl- 


74  The  Union  Movement 

dent  that  these  records  do  not  give  an  impartial  diagnosis  so 
much  as  they  report  a  suggestion.  The  "practically  iden- 
tical terms"  found  in  the  records  of  the  whole  series  of 
conferences  covering  many  points  in  India,  China  and  Japan, 
and  later  in  South  America,  show  the  work  of  a  guiding  mind 
and  a  steady  consistency  with  the  policies  which  certain  men 
left  the  Edinburgh  Conference  to  put  in  operation  on  the 
mission  fields  and  which  have  been  made  the  guiding  prin- 
ciples of  the  Movement. 

That  is  an  uncommon  variety  of  indigenous  plant  which 
was  rooted  at  Edinburgh  and  transported  to  the  mission 
fields  via  New  York!  Personally  the  writer  certainly  does 
not  question  the  goodness  or  greatness  of  the  leaders  of  this 
Movement.  They  have  by  their  characters  and  devotion  to 
Christian  Missions  won  their  places,  and  their  places  are  high 
and  secure  in  the  confidence  of  the  Christian  world.  Mission- 
ary policies,  however,  have  their  merit  or  demerit  apart  from 
the  individuals  who  operate  them.  It  is  not,  therefore,  in 
disrespect  for  anybody  that  we  ask.  How  much  more  unsuc- 
tarian  and  indigenous  for  China  are  missionary  and  eccle- 
siastical policies  which  are  determined  by  Drs.  John  K. 
Mott,  Kobert  E.  Speer,  and  others,  and  transplanted 
in  China  than  the  policies  of  Methodism,  for  instance, 
which  were  conceived  by  Drs.  John  Wesley,  George  Whit- 
field, and  others?  Keligious  policies  which  are  substituted 
for  and  supplant  other  systems,  become  a  system  in  them- 
selves. Who  is  wise  enough  to  guarantee  that  the  recognition 
of  the  policies  of  this  Movement  and  the  adoption  of  its 
principles  will  not  in  the  end  prove  as  objectionable  as  any- 
thing we  now  have?  Certainly  no  present  division  of  the 
evangelical  forces  of  Christendom  has  greater  centralization 
in  management  than  has  this  Movement.  Is  this  the  direc- 
tion in  which  the  world  is  moving  and  religious  bodies  ought 
to  move? 


The  Union  Movement  75 

This  indigenous  church  idea  is  not  the  only  one  now  be- 
ginning to  nourish  on  the  foreign  field  which  is  fragrant  with 
the  odors  of  other  hemispheres.  Concerning  the  consolida- 
tion of  certain  churches  of  several  denominations  in  a  cer- 
tain mission  in  Japan,  which  was  affected  by  this  Movement, 
one  missionary  wrote  it  was  "not  confined  to  Japan,  nor  did 
it  originate  in  Japan."  Another  wrote,  "The  native  pastors 
are  all  opposed  to  the  efi'ort,  and  quite  a  number  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  churches."  The  Movement  has  put  on  its  program 
and  uttered  its  shibboleth  of  one  indigenous  church  in  the 
Philippine  Islands.  Here  is  what  Rev.  H.  W.  Munger,  a 
missionary  to  the  Filipinos,  says  about  it: 

"Another  reason  advanced  for  effecting  this  union  is  that 
we  ought  not  to  impose  our  ecclesiastical  forms  and  organiza- 
tions upon  these  people,  but  that  we  ought  to  nationalize 
Christianity  and  establish  an  indigenous  church.  True 
enough,  so  we  ought.  But  what  do  they  propose  to  do  to 
establish  this  indigenous  church?  A  committee  is  appointed, 
half  of  which  are  Americans  and  half  are  Filipinos.  This 
committee  sits  down  and  draws  up  a  polity,  taking  a  little 
from  the  Methodists,  a  little  from  the  Presbyterians,  a  little 
from  the  Episcopalians,  a  little  from  the  Baptists,  etc.,  and 
they  call  that  an  indigenous  polity.  It  is  only  a  crazy  quilt 
of  western  church  politics.  It  is  no  more  indigenous  than  the 
entire  Presbyterian  organization  from  the  general  assembly 
down  to  the  local  presbyteries  transplanted  over  here  en 
masse.  The  missionaries  propose  to  organize  a  national 
Filipino  church.  But,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  the 
foreign  missionaries  cannot  organize  a  Filipino  church.  This 
can  be  done  only  by  the  Filipinos  themselves.  If  there  is  to 
be  one  national  church  they  must  establish  it,  and  not  the 
missionaries. 

"Now,  are  the  Filipinos  ready  for  this  movement? 
are  they  advocating  it?  is  there  a  demand  for  it?  I  have  dis- 
covered none  in  my  field." 


76  The  Union  Movement 

CHAPTER  VI. 

A  BASIS  OF  UNION. 

A  DISTINCTION  must  be  made  between  union  and  coopera- 
tioxi.  In  this  chapter  we  discuss  the  attitude  of  Southern 
Bajt/tists  to  Christian  union.  We  will  then  offer  some  obser- 
vations upon  cooperation. 

The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  has  made  distinct  de- 
liverance, both  as  to  a  basis  of  union  with  others  and  lines 
of  possible  and  proper  cooperation  pending  an  agreement 
upon  things  which  now  separate  Christians  into  denomina- 
tions. The  Convention  has  declared  for  both  union  and  co- 
operation— union  of  a  certain  sort  and  on  certain  terms 
which  are  equally  fair  to  all,  and  cooperation,  the  mean- 
while, to  a  certain  extent.  These  two  facts  should  be  kept 
in  mind  and  kept  separate.  There  can  be  no  perfect  union 
which  is  not  genuine  and  scriptural,  and  there  cannot  con- 
sistently be  an  unlimited  cooperation  until  such  union  is 
realized.  To  force  a  union  while  rejecting,  even  tabooing, 
the  scriptural  terms  of  union,  is  a  poor  sign  of  the  Christian 
spirit  which  must  be  depended  upon  to  hold  the  federation 
together. 

The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  has  shown  its  faith  by 
its  works  in  this  matter  of  Christian  union.  For  successive 
years  Dr.  E.  C.  Dargan  was  appointed  a  special  representa- 
tive of  the  Convention  to  the  meetings  of  "The  World  Con- 
ference on  Faith  and  Order."  The  first  report  of  this  com- 
mittee was  presented  to  the  Convention  at  its  session  in 
1912.  Its  spirit  and  attitude  are  indicated  by  the  following 
extracts : 


The  Union  Movement  77 

"We  are  thankful  to  recognize  that  there  is  an  increas- 
ing spiritual  unity  among  all  the  true  followers  of  our  Lord, 
and  we  heartily  engage  to  promote  by  all  suitable  means  the 
furtherance  and  strengthening  of  this  really  impressive  and 
growing  union  among  all  Christians.  .  .  .  With  regard 
to  questions  of  doctrines  and  polity,  we  are  sure  that  under 
present  conditions  uniformity  or  any  organic  union  based 
upon  that  cannot  be  expected.  We  believe  in  'the  unity  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,'  but  we  also  understand  that 
'where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  there  is  liberty.'  In  the 
exercise  and  expression  of  this  liberty  there  will  no  doubt 
remain  some  ditierences  of  view  and  of  conviction  in  regard 
to  many  important  teachings  and  institutions  of  our  com- 
mon Christianity.  In  regard  to  these,  all  Christians  should 
hold  for  themselves  and  for  each  other  the  right  to  differ, 
but  to  differ  in  peace  and  love.  Granting  to  all  others  most 
freely  and  cordially  the  freedom  of  personal  judgment  which 
we  claim  for  ourselves,  we  feel  it  only  frank  and  just  to  say 
that  many  of  the  tenets  which  are  regarded  as  divisive  be- 
tween ourselves  and  our  brethren  of  other  communions  are 
and  ever  must  be  cherished  and  defended  by  us  as  the  clear 
teachings  of  God's  W^ord,  and  on  these  matters  we  can  never 
evade  or  compromise." 

In  1913,  Dr.  George  W.  Truett  offered  the  following  reso- 
lution to  the  Baptist  General  Convention  of  Texas: 

"Whereas,  The  subject  of  Christian  union  is  now  com- 
manding the  wide  and  earnest  attention  of  Christians  every- 
where.   Therefore,  be  it 

'^Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  nine  be  appointed  to  draft 
a  report  expressing  the  views  and  sentiments  of  this  body 
concerning  such  subject." 

This  resolution  was  passed  heartily  by  the  Convention, 
and  Dr.  Truett  was  made  chairman  of  the  proposed  com- 
mittee and  associated  with  him  were  such  men  as  Drs.  J.  B. 
Gambrell,  J.  L.  Gross,  and  others.    Later  in  the  session  the 


78  The  Union  Movement 

committee  offered  to  the  body  a  statement,  the  character  of 
which  is  indicated  in  the  following  excerpts : 

''1.  We  look  with  deep  and  sympathetic  interest  on  the 
efforts  now  making  throughout  the  Christian  world,  to  re- 
unite the  scattered  and  ofttime  antagonistic  forces  of  Chris- 
tendom. We  deplore  the  divisions  that  obtain  among  the 
lovers  of  Jesus,  and  the  many  evils  resulting  therefrom.  We 
long  for  Christian  union.  We  pray  for  it  and  will  labor  for 
it,  on  a  scriptural  basis;  but  we  insist  that  it  cannot  and 
should  not  be  secured  on  any  other  basis. 

"2.  We  hold  the  immemorial  position  of  Baptists  that 
all  true  believers  in  Christ  as  their  personal  Saviour  are 
saved,  having  been  born  again;  and  this,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  preacher,  priest,  ordinance,  sacrament  or  church. 
Therefore,  we  profoundly  rejoice  in  our  spiritual  union  with 
all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  in  sincerity  and  truth.  We  hold 
them  as  brothers  in  the  saving  grace  of  Christ,  and  heirs 
with  us  of  life  and  immortality.  We  love  their  fellowship, 
and  maintain  that  the  spiritual  union  of  all  believers  is  now 
and  ever  will  be  a  blessed  reality.  This  spiritual  union  does 
not  depend  on  organizations,  or  forms,  or  rituals.  It  is 
deeper,  higher,  broader,  and  more  stable  than  any  and  all 
organizations." 

Following  this  statement,  the  Texas  paper  points  out 
some  things  in  the  Baptist  contention  which  involve  funda- 
mental Christian  truth,  and  npon  which  there  can  be  no 
thought  of  compromise,  adding: 

"Our  most  cherished  beliefs,  our  deep  sense  of  duty,  will 
not  permit  us  to  enter  into  any  federation,  council,  or  what 
not,  that  would  in  any  way  obscure  the  positions  set  out 
above,  or  hinder  us  in  the  full  and  free  preaching  of  the 
whole  counsel  of  God  to  all  the  people  of  the  world.  By  our 
very  principles  we  are  automatically  separated,  ecclesias- 
tically, from  all  other  people,  and  we  cannot  help  it,  unless 
we  stultify  our  consciences  or  renounce  the  truth,  as  we  are 
given  to  see  the  trnth,  a  course  no  Christian  would  wish  us 
to  take." 


The  Union  Movement  79 

In  1914,  the  Efllciency  Commission,  already  referred  to, 
appointed  the  year  before  and  composed  of  truly  representa- 
tive men  from  every  section  of  the  South,  presented  to  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  as  a  part  of  a  larger  report, 
a  ''Pronouncement  on  Christian  Union  and  Denominational 
EflSciency."  While  much  of  the  report  was  referred  back  to 
the  committee,  this  part  of  it  on  Christian  union  was  adopted 
heartily  by  the  Convention.  We  quote  from  this  pronounce- 
ment: 

"This  Convention  rejoices  in  the  many  evidences  of  in- 
creasing interest  in  the  subject  of  Christian  union  among 
Christian  people  everywhere.  Many  evils  arise  from  the 
divided  state  of  modern  Christendom.  The  prayer  of  Jesus 
in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John  and  the  many  exhorta- 
tions to  unity  in  the  Epistles  of  the  New  Testament  should 
keep  us  constantly  reminded  that  this  matter  lay  very  near 
the  heart  of  the  Master  and  of  His  apostles. 

"We  have  deep,  abiding  joy  in  the  spiritual  unity  and 
brotherhood  which  bind  together  all  believers  in  Jesus  Christ, 
of  every  name  and  in  every  clime.  W^e  are  intensely  grate- 
ful for  that  form  of  personal  religious  experience  which  is 
the  priceless  possession  of  every  soul  who  has  known  the  re- 
deeming grace  of  God  in  Christ.  .  .  .  We  are  also  in 
hearty  accord  with  every  movement  and  cause  in  which 
Christians  of  every  name  may  take  part  without  doing  vio- 
lence to  the  sacred  mandates  of  conscience  and  without  im- 
pairing their  sense  of  loyalty  to  Christ." 

The  above  extracts  from  these  important  documents  give 
a  very  clear  and  conclusive  understanding  of  the  sentiment 
and  conviction  of  Southern  Baptists  concerning  this  impor- 
tant matter.  The  truth  is,  Southern  Baptists  recognize  the 
evils  of  a  divided  Christianity  much  more  clearly  than  do 
some  who  are  the  champions  of  a  union  which  is  promoted 
in  sentiment  only.  They  know  well  the  waste,  the  confusion 
and    the    follv    of    division.     No   well-informed   and   well- 


80  The  Union  Movement 

grounded  Baptist  ever  said  that  such  things  as  divide  Chris- 
tians are  of  no  consequence  and  make  no  difference,  nor  that 
a  multitude  of  denominations  is  better  than  a  united  Chris- 
tendom. They  deplore  schism  in  the  body  of  Christ,  and 
would  heal  it;  but  they  would  do  this  by  going  directly  to 
the  causes  of  division,  and  would  not  seek  it  by  evading  the 
only  things  that  divide  us.  The  simplest  and  quickest  way  to 
get  together,  as  well  as  the  only  way  to  stay  together,  is  to 
catalogue  the  things  which  divide  us  and  proceed  to  get  these 
out  of  the  way.  If  there  is  brotherhood  enough  to  hold  a  union 
together,  there  ought  to  be  brotherhood  enough  calmly  and 
in  high  Christian  spirit  and  courage  to  sit  together  in  con- 
ference on  these  matters  which  cause  the  deplored  divisions. 
Certainly  if  the  friends  of  union  really  possess  the  breadth 
and  charity  of  which  they  seem  so  self-conscious,  there  ought 
to  be  no  diflSculty  in  the  way  of  a  frank  and  fraternal  confer- 
ence about  these  matters.  Baptists  are  ready  to  go  into  a 
conference  with  any  body  of  Christian  men  at  any  time  for 
a  settlement  of  the  real  issues.  They  will  neither  offer  nor 
take  offense  in  the  discussion  of  these  matters.  The  best 
proof  that  any  advocate  of  Christian  union  can  give  of  a 
broad  and  unprejudiced  mind,  a  liberal  and  fraternal  spirit, 
is  to  agree  to  face  with  his  brethren  their  differences  and 
arbitrate  them  by  the  standard  of  a  sound  and  scholarly  in- 
terpretation of  the  Scriptures.  There  is  no  other  way  per- 
manently to  satisfy  a  good  Christian  conscience ;  nor  is  there 
any  other  way  to  guarantee  unity  and  prevent  more  divisions. 
The  way  to  get  together  is  to  get  those  things  out  of  the 
way  which  separate  us.  Presumably  all  real  Christians  are 
already  sufficiently  united  in  their  feelings  to  cooperate 
freely  if  only  the  matters  about  which  they  differ  were  out 
of  the  way.  The  bar  is  not  hate  for  their  brethren,  but  their 
love  for  the  truth,  or  what  they  think  to  be  the  truth.      It 


The  Union  Movement  81 

is  not  because  they  lack  courtesy,  but  because  they  have  con- 
science. 

That  Christians  of  all  people  should  exemplify  a  high 
degree  of  courtesy  in  their  conduct  toward  others,  there  can 
be  but  one  opinion  among  men  who  understand  Christian 
ethics.  Discourtesy  is  unseemly  in  anybody;  it  is  a  breach 
of  Christian  behavior  in  a  disciple  of  Christ  and  an  aggra- 
vated form  of  this  when  shown  other  Christians.  This  is  or 
ought  to  be  understood  by  everybody.  It  ought  also  to  be 
understood  that  right,  loyalty,  sincerity,  duty,  are  all  in- 
volved in  the  matter  of  Christian  cooperation,  and  that  con- 
duct in  this  case  transcends  mere  etiquette.  But  for  a  con- 
science which  was  stronger  than  conventional  observance 
and  the  recognized  proprieties,  there  had  been  no  Protes- 
tantism. 

"Though  love  repine  and  reason  chafe, 
There  came  a  voice  without  reply — 
'Tis  man's  perdition  to  be  safe 

When  for  the  truth  he  ought  to  die." 

There  are  several  denominations  in  this  country  now  which 
came  into  existence  by  immature  and  improper  effort  to  pro- 
mote unity.  Unwise  and  aggressive  measures  to  realize  union 
have  often  disturbed  the  Christian  unity  which  already  ex- 
isted, and  we  are  threatened  with  another  instance  of  this 
on  an  immense  scale  and  with  disastrous  results  to  Christian 
missions.  This  effect  has  already  occurred  in  some  denomi- 
nations and  in  some  missions.    A  missionary  writes : 

"Before  this  great  stir  of  the  last  few  years  the  fellow- 
ship between  Baptists  and  all  evangelistic  missionaries  was 
admirable.  One  of  the  joys  of  my  first  few  years  as  a  mis- 
sionary was  the  seeming  ability  on  the  part  of  nearly  every- 
body to  go  along  with  his  own  work  and  love  everybody  else." 


82  The  Union  Movement 

The  friends  of  missions  and  of  union  will  blunder  by  forc- 
ing this  issue  on  the  foreign  field  in  advance  of  their  ability 
to  realize  it  on  the  home  field.  To  do  so  is  to  present  to 
China  and  Japan  that  which  has  at  least  the  semblance  of 
a  program  of  concealment.  Representative  and  observant 
men  of  these  nations  are  moving  among  us  every  day,  and 
they  will  know  and  tell  abroad  whether  we  practice  at  home 
what  we  preach  to  Japanese  and  Chinese.  The  insistence  upon 
distinct  denominational  lines  here  with  independent  denomi- 
national schools,  papers,  publishing  houses  and  other  forms 
of  institutional  Christianity,  with  competition  between  the 
denominations  in  every  town  and  village,  while  pooling  these 
interests  on  the  foreign  field  and  proclaiming  unity  and  co- 
operation will  not  in  the  end  secure  for  us  the  largest  respect 
and  for  Christianity  the  largest  influence  in  these  nations. 

Besides  this,  the  mature  Christian  leaders  at  home  ought 
in  all  reason  to  settle  their  differences  here,  and  not  leave  the 
settlement  of  them  for  the  immature  converts  from  heathen- 
ism. If  these  are  encouraged  to  search  the  Scriptures,  they 
will  meet  these  questions  which  divide  us.  They  will,  for  in- 
stance, be  brought  to  face  the  matter  of  whether  all  men  are 
saved  by  faith  in  Christ,  or  whether  some  are  thus  saved  and 
others  by  ordinances;  whether  there  is  "one  baptism"  or 
many.  We  could  both  save  time  and  our  Christian  converts 
much  trouble  if  we  would  be  big  enough,  broad  enough  and 
brotherly  enough  to  settle  these  questions  here. 

But  let  us  be  frank  and  no  one  be  deceived.  The  Baptist 
people  are  not  ready  to  cease  bearing  their  witness  to  certain 
principles  and  practices  which  have  always  characterized 
them.  They  will  go  straight  on  to  the  world  with  their  tes- 
timony to  the  scripturalness  of  their  distinctive  principles. 
It  is  not  with  Baptists  a  question  of  North  or  South,  of 
partisan  pride,  venerable  counsel,  sectionalism  or  sectarian- 
ism, but  the  fundamental  question  of  whether  the  Word  of 


The  Union  Movement  83 

God  is  binding  on  the  life  and  conscience  or  may  be  bent  to 
suit  convenience  or  preference;  it  is  even  whether  salvation 
is  of  Christ  by  faith  only  or  not.  One  great  denomination, 
which  neither  immerses  nor  requires  faith  in  Christ  as  a 
condition  of  receiving  the  form  which  it  substitutes  for  bap- 
tism, puts  forth  as  one  plank  in  its  proposed  platform  for 
a  united  Christianity  this : 

"We  believe  that  all  who  have  been  duly  baptized  with 
water  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  are  members  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church."  (The 
Bouse  of  Bishops  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  Quoted  in 
Unity  and  Missions,  hy  Arthur  J.  Broion,  D.D.,  page  191.) 

If  Jesus'  blood  is  the  atonement  for  the  world's  sins,  and 
if  faith  in  Christ  is  the  means  by  which  a  sinner  avails  him- 
self of  the  benefits  of  that  atonement,  then  there  is  heresy 
enough  in  that  plank  of  this  platform  for  union  to  let  the 
world  through  to  perdition.  It  is  because  just  that  sort  of 
thing  is  either  expressed  or  implied  as  a  part  of  the  whole 
present  program  for  union,  that  Baptists  cannot  have  any  of 
it.  To  do  so  is  to  surrender  their  age-long  contention  and  the 
fundamental  principles  of  evangelical  Christianity. 

Adoniram  Judson  was  no  sooner  convinced  of  the  Baptist 
faith  than  he  concluded  that  it  necessarily  separated  him 
from  his  own  Congregational  brethren.  In  a  letter  to  a  Mr. 
Emerson  he  wrote: 

"This  change  of  my  sentiments  will  materially  affect  my 
future  life.  Neither  myself  nor  my  missionary  brethren  think 
that  a  cooperation  would  on  all  accounts,  be  pleasant  or  prac- 
ticable. The  Board  of  Commissioners  will  doubtless  consider 
my  becoming  a  Baptist  as  dissolving  my  connection  with 
them.  They  will  be  as  unwilling  to  employ  a  Baptist  mis- 
sionary as  I  am  to  comply  with  their  instructions  which  di- 
rect us  to  baptize  'believers  with  their  households.'  " 


84  The  Union  Movement 

Mrs.  Judson  wrote  by  the  same  mail: 

"It  has  been  and  still  is  one  of  the  most  trying  circum- 
stances of  my  life  to  think  of  doing  that  which  I  know  will 
be  considered  a  very  great  evil  by  most  of  my  Christian 
friends.  We  are  now  cast  out  into  the  wide  world,  not 
knowing  where  we  shall  go,  or  what  will  befall  us  at  the 
place  of  our  destination." 

For  these  missionaries  the  proposed  union  would  have 
been  impossible. 

It  is  precisely  in  the  work  of  missionary  propagandism 
that  we  cannot  conceal  or  compromise  our  distinctive  mes- 
sage. The  very  things  upon  which  we  take  issue  with  our 
pedo-Baptist  brethren  give  peculiar  value  to  the  missionary 
message.  We  do  not  go  to  China  or  Japan  primarily  to  bap- 
tize anybody,  but  to  secure  the  conversion  of  men  by  telling 
them  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanses  from  all  sin,  and  that 
they  may  have  the  benefit  of  this  by  believing  in  Him  and  by 
this  belief  alone.  There  is  a  great  gulf  between  the  theolo- 
gies of  the  two  men,  one  of  whom  says  that  a  little  water  on 
the  head  of  a  child  makes  him  a  child  of  God,  and  the  other 
of  whom  preaches  consistently,  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

This  call  to  unite  with  other  denominations  in  mission 
work  raises  again  the  crucial  question  of  how  a  sinner  is 
saved,  and  involves  the  future  witness  of  Baptists  to  this 
fundamental  fact  of  religion,  as  well  as  the  continued  iden- 
tity of  the  people  who  have  through  the  ages  steadfastly  and 
consistently,  against  great  odds,  borne  their  testimony  to  the 
evangelical  view  of  this  matter.  Decision  to  join  the  Move- 
ment or  not  to  join  it  will  determine  wihether  Baptists  shall 
longer  bear  their  witness  to  the  all-sufiiciency  of  the  atone- 
ment and  justification  by  faith  alone,  or  admit  on  common 
ground  ritualistic  and  ceremonial  supplements  which  contra- 


The  Union  Movement  85 

diet  these  essential  trutlis  of  the  gospel.  Baptists  have  borne 
a  distinctive  message  in  matters  fundamental  to  an  effective 
world-evangelism.  They  have  borne  consistent,  and  among 
the  great  denominations,  the  only  consistent  witness  to  atone- 
ment by  the  blood  of  Christ  and  by  the  blood  alone;  of  salva- 
tion by  personal  faith  in  Christ  and  by  such  faith  only;  of  a 
church  membership  conditioned  upon  personal  profession  of 
belief  in  these  regenerating  facts  and  personal  and  voluntary 
obedience  to  the  initial  act  of  obedience  which  symbolizes  the 
fundamental  elements  in  the  gospel  message.  To  neutralize 
Baptist  accent  on  these  vital  elements  of  the  evangelical  mis- 
sionary message,  or  to  form  an  alliance  on  terms  which  admit- 
that  the  difference  between  them  and  their  ceremonial  oppo- 
sites  is  insignificant  is  not  for  Baptist  federation  but  capitu- 
lation, and  it  would  mean  inevitable  disaster  to  pure  Christi- 
anity. Such  surrender  on  our  part  would  release  ceremonial- 
ism from  its  strongest  restraint  and  the  result  would  be  an 
accelerated  movement  toward  the  religious  magic  of  which 
Komanism  is  today  the  adept  administrator. 

The  distinction  is  too  great  and  the  consequence  too 
dreadful  for  us  to  welcome  a  federation  which  blinks  at  such 
differences,  or  which  renders  it  an  impropriety  for  one  to 
point  out  the  radical  contradiction  of  the  respective  posi- 
tions. 

Perhaps  we  may  as  well  confess  our  audacity  and  say  that 
Baptists  have  not  yet  abandoned  the  hope  of  converting  the 
world,  not  to  their  name  perhaps,  for  that  is  not  their  ambi- 
tion or  contention,  but  to  truths  so  paramount  and  a  position 
so  evangelical  as  those  we  are  insisting  do  characterize  and 
distinguish  them.  The  saddest  plight  into  which  Christians 
have  fallen  is  not  the  multiplicity  of  denominations,  as  de- 
plorable and  as  wasteful  as  that  is,  but  that  they  have  fallen 
so  far  apart  upon  the  primary  and  transcendent  matters  of 
how  a  man  is  saved,  the  atandard  which  he  shall  set,  even 


S6  The  Union  Movement 

in  the  first  act  of  obedience,  for  his  regenerated  life,  and 
that  sectarian  jealousy  has  created  such  super-sensitiveness 
that  offence  is  given  if  the  fundamental  facts  are  insisted 
upon.  Baptists  and  others  represent  opposite  poles  in  these 
matters.  The  mistaking  of  these  is  a  grave  matter,  and 
until  the  terms  of  union  are  agreed  upon  there  is  justification 
for  separate  existence. 

On  the  other  hand  calm  reflection  will  convince  candid 
men  that  baptism  as  held  and  practiced  by  Baptists  can 
easily  be  made  a  valuable  rallying  point  for  Christian  union 
instead  of  longer  being  a  cause  of  division.  Three  observa- 
tions will  show  that  this  is  true. 

1.  Baptists  have  for  this  ordinance  the  confirmation  of 
the  scholarship  of  all  denominations.  Says  A.  T.  Robertson, 
D.D.,  LL.D. :  "The  testimony  of  modern  scholars  on  the  sub- 
ject of  immersion  as  the  baptism  of  the  New  Testament  is 
as  unanimous  as  one  can  ever  expect  to  find  on  any  question 
of  scholarship.  All  modern  lexicons  give  no  other  meaning 
for  baptizo  but  to  dip  or  immerse."  G.  Campbell  Morgan 
says:  ''The  first  thing  I  have  to  say  is  there  is  no  question 
at  all  that  baptism  in  those  (New  Testament)  days  meant 
immersion.  That  is  not  open  to  question."  While  we  may 
not  class  all  of  them  as  scholars,  yet  the  great  founders  and 
leaders  of  the  great  denominations  agree  with  the  scholars  in 
declaring  that  this  is  the  scriptural  act.  John  Wesley,  the 
founder  of  Methodism,  said  that  ''Immersion  was  the  cus- 
tom of  the  first  church  and  the  rule  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land." John  Calvin,  the  founder  of  Presbyterianism,  said  that 
"The  word  baptize  signifies  to  immerse,  and  it  is  certain  that 
immersion  was  the  practice  of  the  ancient  church."  Chal- 
mers, the  Free  Churchman,  said  that  "The  original  meaning 
of  the  word  baptism  is  immersion."  Alford,  the  Episco- 
palian, declared  that  "Baptism  is  the  burial  in  water  of  the 
old  man."     These  are  but  samples  of  pages  of  testimony 


The  Union  Movement  87 

which  might  be  given.  The  denominations  would  not  have 
to  repudiate  their  founders  to  agree  with  Baptists  on  this 
question. 

2.  Immersion  is  approved  by  the  Christian  conscience  of 
all  denominations.  No  denomination  rejects  it.  E.  Y.  Mul- 
lins,  D.U.,  LL.I).,  says:  "Again,  immersion  is  the  one  form 
of  the  rite  which  is  universally  admitted  as  scriptural.  On 
its  face  it  looks  like  an  absurd  proceeding  for  Christians  to 
adopt  a  divisive  principle  in  order  to  secure  Christian  unity. 
Everybody's  conscience  concedes  that  immei-sion  is  true  New 
Testament  baptism.  Millions  of  consciences  do  not  concede 
that  sprinkling  or  pouring  is  baptism.  Yet  many  insist  that 
the  only  way  to  Christian  union  is  the  admission  of  sprink- 
ling and  pouring  as  true  baptism.  How,  then,  can  unity  be 
evolved  out  of  a  divisive  plank  in  the  platform?  It  is  like 
Democrats  and  Eepublicans  trying  to  insert  a  free  trade 
and  protective  tariff  plank  in  the  same  political  platform. 
Unity  of  action  can  never  be  secured  until  the  ground  com- 
mon to  all  parties  is  made  the  starting  point.  Any  other 
method  of  procedure  is  predestined  to  failure  from  the  out- 
set." Adoption  of  this  mode,  therefore,  by  all  need  not  be 
a  cause  of  division  anywhere.  Members  of  all  denominations 
give  it  cordial  fellowship. 

3.  All  the  other  denominations  are  not  united  among 
themselves  on  any  other  form  for  baptism.  There  are  many 
men  and  women  in  other  churches  whom  nothing  but  immer- 
sion could  satisfy;  and  there  is  no  agreement  among  even 
the  leaders  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  divisive  practice  of  in- 
fant sprinkling.  "They  differ  widely  among  themselves  both 
as  to  the  meaning  and  value  of  infant  baptism,  and  as  to 
the  grounds  on  which  to  advocate  and  justify  the  practice. 
There  is  abundant  literature  on  the  subject,  and  every  argu- 
ment used  in  its  favor  and  every  Scripture  quoted  in  its  sup- 
port, has  been  declared  by  one  or  more  pedo-Baptists  them- 


88  The  Union  Movement 

selves  as  of  no  value  in  favor  or  support  of  baptizing  un- 
believing cliildren.  Indeed,  the  concession  has  been  so  gen- 
eral and  sweeping  bj  its  advocates  one  against  the  other  as 
to  neutralize  all  the  arguments  and  to  leave  the  practice 
without  support."     {Dr.  E.  E.  Folk.) 

Why,  therefore,  should  not  sane  and  serious-minded  men 
who  are  seeking  for  grounds  of  Christian  union,  agree  to 
conform  to  the  findings  of  ripe  scholarship  and  the  universal 
Christian  conscience,  and  adopt  this  mode,  and  use  it  as  a 
rallying  point  for  Christian  union?  This  would  prepare 
the  way  for  the  friendly  settlement  of  other  differences.  Un- 
til this  is  done,  it  is  certain  that  baptism  will  stand  as  a 
barrier  to  union.  There  will  always  be  men  of  conscience 
and  respect  for  learning  who  will  not  discard  the  concensus 
of  the  world's  scholarship  on  a  question  like  this. 

We  do  not  intimate  that  baptism  is  the  sum  of  our  differ- 
ences, although  we  do  affirm  that  it  involves  fundamental 
elements  of  the  Christian  mission  and  message  and  proper 
respect  for  the  New  Testament  as  the  standard  for  the  Chris- 
tian life;  and  that  it  is,  therefore,  suggestive  of  radical  dis- 
tinctions between  the  Baptist  position  and  the  union  pro- 
gram. Immersion  is  not  a  soul-saving  device,  but  it  is  more 
than  a  form — it  is  a  significant  act  of  obedience. 

In  another  connection  we  have  stated  the  significance  of 
the  ordinances  in  the  following  terms: 

'^TJie  ordinances  have  a  most  intimate  relation  to  the 
most  vital  part  of  the  gospel.  Next  to  a  right  apprehension 
of  the  meaning  of  Christ's  death,  that  is  to  say,  a  right  view 
of  the  atonement,  is  a  correct  understanding  of  the  mean- 
ing and  design  of  the  ordinances.  .  .  .  The  man  who 
has  lost  from  his  message  that  which  these  ordinances  con- 
tain and  proclaim  has  no  gospel  at  all,  and  can  wever  make 
a  real  convert. 

''These  ordinances  were  appointed  to  preserve  in  the 
midst  of  all  changes  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus. 


The  Union  Movement  89 

Jesus  died  for  our  sins  and  rose  again  for  our  justification. 
Outside  of  that  death  and  resurrection  there  is  absolutely  no 
hope  for  any  lost  man  anyivhere  in  any  age.  If  these  two 
fundamental  facts  are  lost,  or  their  nwaning  is  lost,  the  world 
will  he  lost.  Whatever  else  men  lose  or  fail  to  understand, 
they  must  not  he  suffered  to  lose  or  misunderstand  the  fact 
and  meaning  of  Jesus'  death  and  resurrection.  Jesus  adopted 
these  symhols  and  instituted  these  ordinances  to  guard 
against  such  loss  and  such  calamity  as  their  loss  loould  entail. 
.  .  .  It  is  significant  that  Jesus  said,  ^This  cup  is  the 
new  testament  in  my  hlood.^  Thus  he  gave  to  the  ordinance 
tlie  very  name  later  given  to  the  gospel  in  all  its  elaboration 
in  the  lAves,  Acts,  and  Epistles,  as  if  Jesus  meant  that  we 
have  it  all  in  essential  essence  in  the  ordinance.  The  ordi- 
nance is  the  'New  Testament,  the  covenant  in  His  hlood,  the 
atonement,  not  written,  not  spoken,  hut  exhibited  in  an  act. 
All  the  gospel  is  in  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and 
these  ttco  acts  and  their  significance  must  be  saved,  or  all 
the  preachers  and  all  the  churches  cannot  save  anybody. 
These  are  the  vital  elements  of  the  missionary  message.  Any- 
thing less  will  fail  to  effect  the  ends  which  the  gospel  con- 
templates.   ... 

^^The  ordinances  are  not  to  he  observed  as  a  means  of 
life,  but  as  a  memorial  of  death.  They  do  not  purify  the 
candidate,  hut  preach  the  gospel  to  the  beholder.  Benefits 
are  derived  from  them,  not  so  much  by  observance  as  by  ob- 
servation. They  do  not  procure^  they  proclaim.  The  ordi- 
nances do  not  possess  magic,  but  they  do  preach  majestic 
truths.  They  do  not  expiate  sin,  but  exhibit  the  atonement. 
They  have  no  sacramental  virtue,  hut  they  have  pedagogical 
value.  The  memorial  supper  and  the  baptismal  entombment 
proclaim  the  vicarious  atonement.  They  are  to  be  preserved 
unchanged  that  they  may  be  observed  ivith  religious  purpose. 
Anything  which  touches  these  ordinances  touches  the  vital 
heart  of  the  gospel."  {The  Gospel  in  Ttvo  Acts,  by  J.  F. 
Love.) 


90  The  Union  Movement 

CHAPTER  VII. 

IMPOSSIBLE  CO-OPEKATION. 

Two  forms  of  cooperation  in  whicli  it  is  impossible  for 
Baptists  to  engage  and  which  is  insisted  upon  by  the  Move- 
ment, should  receive  special  consideration,  namely,  that 
which  concerns  the  conduct  of  schools  and  the  publication  of 
literature. 

We  cannot  differ  with  others  as  we  do  concerning  matters 
which  relate  immediately  to  such  fundamental  questions  as 
the  authority  of  God's  Word  and  the  ground  and  plan  of 
salvation,  and  agree,  for  instance,  that  anybody  shall  preempt 
missionary  territory,  or  to  abandon  the  spiritual  care  of  those 
whom  on  any  field  we  have  taught  these  distinctions;  or  to 
transfer  and  receive  church  members  as  though  no  such  dis- 
tinction existed.  Much  less  can  we  afford  to  federate  our 
teaching  work  with  that  in  which  these  distinctions  are 
ignored  or  contradicted.  Teachers  and  schools  are  supposed 
to  put  premium  upon  truth-seeking,  and  to  make  teaching 
their  chief  business.  We  will  not  agree  to  neutralize  these 
distinctive  truths  in  the  classroom  or  in  a  common  literature. 

1.  First,  then,  the  educational  policy  of  the  Movement, 
which  is  quite  clearly  outlined  in  the  quotations  given  in 
Chapter  IV,  is  one  which  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention 
has  emphatically  disavowed.  It  is,  moreover,  one  which  in- 
validates the  whole  Movement  as  a  scheme  of  missionary  prop- 
agandism.  Said  a  college  professor  to  the  writer  recently  in 
speaking  of  the  scientific  spirit  which  dominates  the  intellec- 
tual processes  of  the  educator :  "The  school  man  says  give  us 
the  facts  and  we  will  philosophize  later."  To  start  a  Christian 
missionary  school  by  waiving  such  facts  as  have  given  us  the 


The  Union  Movement  91 

denominational  divisions  and  pertain  to  the  missionary  mes- 
sage, is  to  negative  tlie  contention  of  school  men  for  frank  and 
fearless  facing  of  facts.  Fidelity  to  the  truth  and  a  willing- 
ness to  accept  it  wherever  found  is  of  the  genius  and  essence 
of  true  education,  and,  for  the  school  man,  the  facts  of  Scrip- 
ture and  of  religion  fall  into  the  same  category.  Moreover, 
it  is  a  notable  fact  that  school  men  plead  for  the  recognition 
of  new  truth  in  religion,  whatever  the  consequences.  To 
justify  this  contention,  the  principle  must  be  applied  to  old 
truth  as  well  as  new.  But  the  educational  program  of  this 
Movement  provides  for  waiving  distinctions  and  definitions 
without  regard  to  the  proof  on  which  they  rest  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  sentiment  for  the  usual  intellectual  standards. 
It  is  proposed  to  select  a  heterogeneous  faculty  who  are  to 
arrange  a  curriculum  which  such  a  faculty  can  put  into  effect 
without  regard  to  the  truth  or  falsity  of  the  theological  sys- 
tems, doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  classifications  represented. 

Can  such  a  course  foster  intellectual  straightforwardness 
and  sincerity?  What  can  be  expected  of  such  an  educational 
program?  Very  probably  its  finished  product  will  be  a  color- 
less theology  and  an  anaemic  religious  life.  The  process  per- 
verts the  usual  course  of  scholarship,  subverts  the  primaiy 
function  of  the  school,  and  invalidates  conviction  for  truth, 
and  this  truth  of  the  most  sacred  kind. 

The  sentiment  for  federating  schools  is  supported  by  cer- 
tain arguments  which  should  be  examined.  There  can  be 
no  question  of  the  sincerity  of  the  arguments,  but  there  is 
abundant  room  to  question  that  they  afford  convincing  rea- 
sons why  Baptists,  or  anybody  else  for  that  matter,  should 
jeopardize  their  identity  and  distinctive  message  in  the  in- 
terest of  such  a  program. 

In  seeking  to  make  their  arguments  plausible  the  friends 
of  cooperation  in  educational  work  have  complicated  the  pure 
merits  of  the  case  for  such  education   with  certain  other 


92  The  Union  Movement 

questions,  and  thus  confused  tlie  issue.  For  instance,  the 
educational  revival  on  the  mission  fields  and  the  advancing 
educational  standards  are  pleaded  as  proof  of  the  necessity 
for  a  very  high,  and  therefore  a  very  expensive  class  of  edu- 
cational work.  There  is  a  large  element  of  fact  in  the  state- 
ment, but  there  are  larger  elements  of  fact  omitted.  One  of 
the  omitted  facts  is  that  there  are  vast  strata  of  undisturbed 
ignorance  on  all  the  foreign  fields  to  which  higher  learning 
is  out  of  range  and  will  be  for  many  decades.  The  masses 
who  represent  the  ignorance  furnish  large  missionary  oppor- 
tunity to  schools  of  lower  grade  and  to  native  preachers  of 
moderate  learning,  and  will  do  so  for  a  long  time  to  come. 
All  the  needs  of  China  cannot  be  met  by  standardized  schools, 
nor  by  highly  educated  men,  as  great  need  as  there  is  for 
these.  Baptists  have  a  mission  to  all  classes,  and  the  course 
which  the  denomination  has  pursued  at  home  has  proved  to 
be  a  wise  one.  We  have  had  men  to  match  our  mountain- 
peak  scholars  and  men  to  match  the  multitude  in  the  plains. 
We  shall  need  such  men  in  China  if  we  are  to  perform  a 
nation-wide  service.  The  absorption  by  a  few  great  institu- 
tions of  the  limited  amount  of  money  which  Southern  Bap- 
tists can  put  into  educational  work  on  the  foreign  field  would 
go  far  to  defeat  us  at  our  task.  A  premature  and  uniform 
standardization  of  all  classes  of  educational  work  in  China 
will  be  at  the  cost  of  general  intelligence,  much  physical 
suffering,  and  the  loss  of  many  souls. 

One  of  the  most  plausible  arguments  for  a  far-reaching  co- 
operation in  educational  work  is  that  for  economy.  We  may, 
for  the  present,  grant  that  educational  work  on  the  foreign 
field  can  be  conducted  more  cheaply  as  a  union  enterprise 
than  independently.  By  pooling  their  educational  interests 
the  Christian  denominations  that  work  in  China,  for  instance, 
can,  we  will  say,  maintain  schools,  colleges,  and  theological 
seminaries  of  superior  efficiency  at  a  minimum  expense  to  the 


The  Union  Movement  93 

participating  boards.  If  Baptists  are  more  concerned  about 
saving  dollars  than  they  are  about  saving  the  truth,  they  may 
have  their  opportunity  in  an  alliance  with  those  who  are 
ready  for  an  educational  merger.  We  shall  in  such  case  save 
some  good  dollars,  but  we  shall  in  the  process  just  as  certainly 
lose  our  distinctiveness  and  help  compound  a  missionary 
message  which  will  be  found  lacking  in  essential  elements, 
and  we  will  produce  a  class  of  preachers  who  have  such  little 
conviction  and  passion  for  this  message  that  they  will  neither 
endure  hardness  for  it  nor  give  it  convincing  pungency.  But 
we  have  strong  testimony  that  even  on  the  score  of  economy 
there  is  no  saving.    Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer  says : 

"It  seems  clear  from  experience  that  union  in  higher 
educational  work  does  not  reduce  expense.  If  each  separate 
denomination  undertook  to  provide  single-handed  the  same 
kind  of  institution  which  it  joins  in  providing  cooperatively 
it  would,  of  course,  have  to  meet  a  far  larger  expense  than 
its  share  of  the  union  institution.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact 
what  most  denominations  would  try  to  provide  separately  is 
less  than  the  union  institution,  and  sometimes  less  even  than 
their  share  in  the  union  institution  soon  requires.  For  the 
united  effort  attempts  what  the  separate  effort  would  not 
attempt,  and  the  obligation  of  the  union  draws  the  different 
participants  on  to  an  exj>ense  on  its  account  to  which  they 
would  not  have  felt  so  necessitously  constrained  if  they  had 
not  incurred  the  associated  obligation.  The  union  schemes 
are  not  only  financially  more  expensive,  they  demand  also 
an  amount  of  time  in  conferences  and  managers'  meetings 
and  in  the  solution  of  the  new  problem  which  they  create 
which  make  them  administratively  a  heavier  burden  than 
purely  denominational  institutions."  (China  Year  Book, 
1917.) 

That  we  need  schools  to  teach  Christian  workers  in  China 
is  a  fact  which  all  will  admit,  and  that  the  equipment  and 
support  of  these  schools  is  a  good  use  to  make  of  missionary 


94  The  Union  Movement 

money  is  equally  true;  but  the  fact  that  these  schools  are 
justified  on  the  ground  that  missionary  workers  must  be 
taught,  becomes  an  argument  for  the  right  sort  of  teaching 
in  the  schools.  Teaching  is  the  most  important  thing,  the 
peculiar  function,  the  justifying  merit  of  a  school.  No  high 
standards  for  equipment  or  scholarship  can  be  substituted 
for  the  right  teaching  to  justify  the  money  which  creates  and 
supports  them.  Schools  must  teach  and  mission  schools  must 
inculcate,  illuminate  and  guarantee  the  missionary  message, 
and  in  doing  so  must  also  turn  out  students  who  are  impas- 
sioned for  it,  glory  in  it,  and  who  will  propagate  it  with 
unwavering  confidence  and  conviction  that  it  is  the  very  truth 
of  God.  No  union  school  has  ever  done  this  and  none  will 
do  it.  The  process  insures  a  diluted  message  and  a  debili- 
tated discipleship. 

It  becomes,  therefore,  a  poor  economy  which  saves  a  few 
dollars  but  loses  essential  elements  of  the  missionary  mes- 
sage, and  forfeits  the  potentiality  of  deep  conviction  in  the 
preacher  product.  A  full  and  vital  message,  burning  convic- 
tion, and  a  strong  passion  for  souls  are  essential  prerequisites 
and  qualifications  in  a  native  ministry.  The  missionary 
value  of  the  teaching  done  in  a  mission  school  is  the  crucial 
test  of  its  efiiciency  and  the  chief  justification  for  its  support 
out  of  the  mission  treasury.  Thoughtful  Christian  men  will 
not  overlook  this  primal  fact.  Although  important,  the  chief 
thing  is  not  men  of  calibre  for  mission  service,  but  a  mes- 
sage full  of  original  gospel  content  and  of  rejuvenating  vital- 
ities. Dr.  Frank  Eawlinson  has  put  the  case  for  sound  theo- 
logical teaching  strongly  and  admirably  in  the  following  sen- 
tence: "Theological  instruction,"  he  says,  "involves  the  in- 
terpretation of  Christianity  to  the  Chinese  at  its  most  vital 
point."  Just  because  the  theological  instruction  is  or  should 
be  primarily  an  interpretation  of  vital  Christianity,  should 
the  teaching  which  is  done  in  theological  schools  and  religious 


The  Union  Movement  95 

instruction  in  other  schools  as  well,  be  faithfully  done  by 
the  teacher  who  represents  a  great  denomination. 

It  is  contended  that  students  will  not  attend  the  small 
schools  which  Baptists  can  build  and  maintain,  but  will  go 
to  the  larger  and  more  amply  equipped  schools.  There  is 
force  in  this,  too,  but  it  needs  to  be  modified  by  two  very 
pertinent  considerations.  The  first  is/  that  the  loyalty  of 
Baptist  students  to  Baptist  schools  is  in  large  degree  deter- 
mined by  the  loyalty  of  their  pastors,  religious  instructors 
and  parents  to  denominational  principles  and  enterprises. 
It  has  often  been  observed  at  home,  and  no  doubt  holds  true 
abroad,  that  where  there  has  been  neglect  of  careful  indoc- 
trination of  those  under  the  influence  of  Baptist  churches 
and  Baptist  preachers,  and  they  have  not  been  patiently  and 
faithfully  taught  the  gi'^at  principles  which  distinguish  us, 
the  risk  of  losing  them  to  larger  schools  is  great.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  have  noticed  that  when  pastors  and  religious 
teachers  are  steadfast  in  their  denominational  convictions 
and  watchful  of  their  opportunities  to  fix  the  denominational 
alignment  of  the  young,  most  of  those  who  go  to  college  enter 
their  own  denominational  institutions,  and  most  of  them,  too, 
come  back  into  the  life  of  the  denomination  to  make  their 
education  which  was  acquired  under  such  auspices  a  bless- 
ing to  their  own  people.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
this  rule  will  work  radically  some  other  way  on  the  foreign 
field. 

The  other  observation  is  this:  The  denominational  school 
at  home  is  outclassed  in  equipment  and  reputation  by  other 
schools,  and  yet  I  do  not  hear  of  our  school  men  advocating 
an  educational  merger  with  other  denominations  here,  nor 
that  these  small  schools  are  without  students.  I  do  hear, 
to  the  contrary,  that  the  denomination  is  deriving  a  far 
larger  benefit  from  the  young  men  and  women  who  attend 
small    denominational   colleges   than   it   is  from   those  who 


96  The  Union  Movement 

attend  the  great  universities.  The  truth  is  that  the  Baptist 
graduates  of  the  great  state  and  independent  universities 
who  prove  to  be  constructive  and  conserving  factors  in  the 
life  and  work  of  Baptist  churches  is  an  exception  which  is 
greatly  prized  by  those  churches  which  have  such  in  their 
membership. 

Tlie  editor  of  the  Watchman-Examiner  makes  this  sensi- 
ble suggestion :  "Before  going  in  for  union  theological  sem- 
inaries abroad  why  not  test  it  out  by  having  Crozer  unite 
with  Princeton,  Colgate  and  Eochester  with  Union,  and  New- 
ton with  Andover?  This  could  be  done  with  less  danger  to 
our  students  than  would  accompany  union  theological  work 
in  foreign  fields,  for  our  Baptist  boys  here  are  reared  in  Bap- 
tist homes  and  have  BaptivSt  blood  in  their  veins  and  know 
what  they  believe,  while  our  Baptist  boys  abroad  have  had 
none  of  these  advantages.  Let  us  not  rob  these  boys  of  the 
privileges  that  we  ourselves  have  had.  We  believe  in  Bap- 
tist theological  seminaries  at  home  and  abroad." 

It  is  argued  that  Baptists  cannot  found,  equip  and  main- 
tain schools  which  will  be  able  to  compete  with  the  govern- 
ment and  federated  schools.  It  is  very  probably  the  truth 
that  we  cannot  compete  with  the  government  and  federated 
schools ;  but  do  we  have  to  compete  in  every  instance,  or  nec- 
essarily at  all?  Indeed,  is  successful  competition  the  chief 
consideration  which  should  control  us  in  any  line  of  Chris- 
tian work,  and  especially  in  a  line  which  so  distinctly  affects 
the  very  message  we  are  under  commission  to  proclaim  and 
the  denominational  marks  which  justify  our  separate  exist- 
ence at  all  ?  The  chief  thing  is  a  faithful  grounding  in  Chris- 
tian truth  and  a  conscience  and  a  passion  for  it.  The  best 
educational  work  now  being  done  in  America  is  not  done 
in  competition  with  the  University  of  Chicago. 

Again  the  issue  is  confused  by  presuming  that,  in  the 
case  of  Southern  Baptists,  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  is  going 


The  Union  Movement  97 

to  attempt  a  more  far-reaching  educational  program  than  the 
Board  itself  contemplates.  The  Board  is  fully  aware  that 
it  will  not  be  able  to  provide  such  an  educational  scheme  as 
may  be  really  desirable.  We  shall  evidently  have  to  confine 
ourselves  to  a  limited  educational  work  and  leave  something, 
yes,  much,  in  this  line  to  be  done  by  the  native  Christians 
when  they  become  sufficiently  numerous  and  able  to  do  it. 
This  may  not  be  best,  but  it  is  a  necessity,  and  it  is  cer- 
tainly better  to  have  fewer  schools  than  both  an  impaired 
message  and  a  home  constituency  divided  over  a  program 
of  federation  abroad  which  no  one  has  ever  thought  of 
or  advocated  for  the  home  field.  The  most  liberal-minded 
school  man  at  home  talks  up  the  denominational  type  of 
Christian  education.  There  is  just  as  good  reason  for  talking 
it  up  for  the  foreign  fields.  Certainly  the  Foreign  Mission 
Board  knows  that  it  is  working  under  limited  financial  abili- 
ty, and  does  not  think  of  attempting  an  educational  program 
which  some  good  and  honored  men  think  it  is  bound  to  un- 
dertake or  unite  with  other  denominations  in  educational 
work. 

2.  A  common  missionary  literature  is  on  the  program  of 
the  Movement.  Some  of  the  arguments  which  are  made 
for  cooperation  in  school  work  are  made  for  coopera- 
tion in  the  production  of  literature  on  the  mission  fields. 
The  plea  for  economy  is  made  with  the  same  plausibility 
in  its  favor  and  there  are  the  same  objections  to  it.  The  func- 
tion of  both  schools  and  religious  publications  is  teaching. 
The  usefulness  of  both  is  seriously  impaired  when  their  teach- 
ing value  is  lowered.  When  Christian  literature  is  issued 
under  joint  denominational  auspices  and  neutral  terms  are 
used  in  translations  and  in  setting  forth  doctrinal  and 
ecclesiastical  ideas,  it  fails  in  its  peculiar  function  of  teach- 
ing and  ceases  to  have  peculiar  value  for  any  denomination. 
The  Commission  nnder  w^hich  we  are  operating  contains 
7 


98  The  Union  Movement 

orders  to  teach  some  very  definite  things.  The  Commission 
can  never  be  expounded  by  a  union  literature.  It  is  pre- 
cisely the  things  which  are  contained  in  the  Commission  upon 
which,  in  large  part,  Baptists  and  others  are  separated. 
Christian  literature  has  perhaps  been  the  most  effective 
agency  in  modern  times  for  advancing  the  truth.  Baptist 
principles  have  gained  great  currency  through  the  printed 
page.  These  principles  can  thus  be  stated  clearly,  and  in 
this  form  can  be  studied  dispassionately  by  the  seekers  after 
truth.  The  speaker  may  show  some  heat  and  stir  up  warm 
personal  antipathies,  but  the  personal  element  is  reduced  to 
a  minimum  in  literature,  and  the  reader  is  dealing  with  a 
calm  teacher  and  is  calmed  in  turn.  No  thoughtful  man  who 
feels  himself  to  be  in  possession  of  great  truths  which  the 
world  needs  will  consent  to  have  so  powerful  an  agent 
neutralized.  Honest  men  can  fined  a  safer  course  than  this 
sort  of  federation.  If,  for  instance,  the  translators  do  not 
know  the  meaning  of  certain  New  Testament  words,  let  them 
ask  scholars  who  do  know.  Baptists  are  willing  to  let  the 
great  scholars  decide  in  every  case  the  question  of  what  is 
the  exact  term  to  be  used,  but  they  will  not  consent  to  eva- 
sion in  matters  of  religion  and  religious  duty  for  the  sake 
of  being  agreeable. 

Economy  is,  I  think,  the  most  material  and  therefore  the 
most  inconsequential,  although  to  some  perhaps  the  most 
plausible  argument  in  favor  of  combination.  But  even  this 
is  answered  by  the  experiments  which  have  been  made  at 
home.  If  proof  on  the  home  field  counts  for  anything,  then 
the  argument  is  in  favor  of  the  independent  denominational 
type  of  Christianity  both  for  effectiveness  and  economy.  The 
demonstration  is  complete  that  the  most  extravagantly  expen- 
sive forms  of  Christian  work  at  home,  as  regards  both  outlay 
and  results,  are  those  forms  which  are  administered  as  unde- 
nominational and  inter-denominational  enterprise.     This  is 


The  Union  Movement  99 

notorious.  Demonstration  has  been  made  in  repeated  in- 
stances and  tlie  proof  is  overwhelming.  We  make  no  war  on 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  but  it  is  an  example  of  the  cost  of  these 
institutions  which  are  administered  undenominationally. 
Here  are  some  illuminating  figures  which  we  quote  as  we 
find  them  : 

"Four  hundred  and  twenty-three  buildings,  valued  at 
161,700,000,  have  been  acquired  by  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  of  North  America  during  the  last  sixteen  years, 
according  to  statistics  of  the  Association  just  made  public. 
In  1000  the  organization  had  359  buildings,  valued  at  $21,- 
600,000,  and  it  has  782  buildings,  valued  at  |83,300,000  now. 
In  11)15  alone  the  Association  opened  twenty-three  new  build- 
ings, valued  at  |6, 000, 000,  in  the  United  States,  and  expects 
to  erect  as  many  more  in  the  next  twelve  months." 

Has  anyone  seen  results  to  justify  these  enormous  ex- 
penditures? For  genuine  and  purely  Christian  and  mission- 
ary results  the  average  city  1^.  M.  C.  A.  with  a  |150,000  plant 
and  an  annual  consumption  of,  say  |25,000,  does  not  compare 
with  a  110,000  church  plant  and  a  |2,000  pastor  dedicated 
to  Christian  work  under  denominational  auspices.  There  are 
connected  with  the  1^.  M.  C.  A.  many  men  who  represent  the 
very  finest  type  of  modern  Christianity.  They  are  intelli- 
gent, consecrated,  active  and  effective.  There  can  be  no  dis- 
paragement of  them  or  their  purposes,  but  they  have,  almost 
to  a  man,  been  drawn  from  the  forces  which  the  churches 
have  produced,  and  having  produced,  could  use  better  than 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  advance  the  cause  of  Christ.  Perhaps  the 
churches  in  the  cities  especially  ought  to  adopt  some  of  the 
methods  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  but  in  my  opinion  not  all  of 
them  by  any  means.  If  this  were  done,  and  the  young  men 
who  are  making  a  success  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  were  utilized  by 
the  churches  which  have  produced  them,  they  would  be  a 
tremendous  force  for  a  full-rounded  Christianity  and  for  its 


100  The  Union  Movement 

impact  upon  the  whole  of  society  and  not  a  mere  segment  of 
it,  however  important  that  segment  may  be.  The  Commis- 
sion cannot  be  fulfilled  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  It  does  not  even 
professedly  undertake  to  fulfill  it.  It  renders  a  limited 
though  highly  important  service  to  a  very  limited  number  of 
young  men,  but  does  not  attempt  to  reach  "every  creature," 
nor  include  in  its  program  and  activities  "all  things"  which 
are  contained  in  the  Commission.  The  fulfillment  and  ex- 
ecution of  that  Commission  is  the  business  of  Christian 
men  and  must  be  accomplished  through  the  churches  of 
Christ. 

But,  coming  back  to  the  matter  of  economy,  we  insist  that 
the  advantages  are  with  the  denominational  type  of  Chris- 
tianity. And  in  the  matter  of  the  schools,  the  small  denomi- 
national colleges  at  home  do  their  excellent  work  on  small 
capital  while  the  universities  require  almost  fabulous  sums. 
This  is  true  from  the  state  university  to  the  University  of 
Chicago,  which  received  last  year  more  money,  independent 
of  tuition,  than  all  American  Baptists  gave  to  Foreign  Mis- 
sions for  preaching,  teaching,  healing,  housing,  on  fields 
which  represent  a  thousand  million  human  souls. 


The  Union  Movement  101 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  FEASIBLE  CO-OPERATION. 

While  we  are  waiting  to  see  realized  a  real  Christian 
union,  what  cooperation  can  we  practice  without  weakening 
contention  for  specific  terms  of  such  union?  A  limitless  co- 
operation, under  present  conditions,  prepares  for  a  condition- 
less  union.  Men  of  right  conscience  and  proper  jealousy  for 
sound  views  of  Christian  truth  and  practice  cannot  tolerate 
such  union.  There  is,  however,  a  possible  and  legitimate  co- 
operation even  in  the  present  state  of  Christendom.  Baptists 
have  always  recognized  this.  The  Southern  Baptist  Conven- 
tion has  made  record  of  the  fact,  although  in  this  as  in  its 
definition  of  the  limitations  of  such  cooperation,  it  has  not 
enlarged  upon  the  matter. 

In  the  report  of  the  Efficiency  Commission,  submitted  to 
the  Convention  in  1914,  occurs  the  following  language : 

''We  wish  to  add  that  pending  the  realization  of  Chris- 
tian union  in  the  ideal  sense,  we  may  resort  to  the  principle 
of  Christian  cooperation.  Many  moral,  social,  civic  and 
other  movements  invite  the  united  effort  of  every  lover  of 
his  fellowmen  and  friends  of  righteousness.  Our  modern 
civilization  is  undergoing  many  changes  and  making  rapid 
progress  in  material  things.  Moral  issues  are  multiplying 
on  all  hands.  The  moral  forces  of  the  nation  are  challenged 
as  never  before.  We  hereby  avow  in  the  most  emphatic  man- 
ner our  desire  and  willingness  to  cooperate  in  all  practicable 
ways  in  every  cause  of  righteousness.  We  join  hands  with 
Christians  of  all  names  in  seeking  these  common  ends." 

In  the  report  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Board,  which  was 
adopted  by  the  Convention  in  1916,  the  Board  says : 


102  The  Union  Movement 

"We  reafiSrm  these  sentiments.  We  would  have  all  our 
people  recognize  the  bonds  of  brotherhood  which  unite  Chris- 
tians of  every  name,  cultivate  a  large  spirit  of  fraternity  and 
strive  together  with  others  to  secure  the  closest  possible  im- 
pact of  our  common  Christianity  upon  the  social  order  for 
the  establishment  of  righteousness  in  the  earth." 

It  is  this  recognit-ion  by  Southern  Baptists  that  there  are 
forms  of  cooperation  ictu  which  Southern  Baptists  can  enter 
with  other  Christians,  and,  as  the  Texas  deliverance  declares, 
"with  Catholics  and  Jews."  This  cooperation,  however,  is 
limited  to  those  matters  participation  in  which  does  not 
carry  inferences  that  surrender  is  made  of  principles  of  the 
denomination  and  of  essential  truth  for  which  it  stands, 
does  not  give  endorsement  to  contradictions  of  these,  nor 
submit  to  the  dictatorship  of  a  few  supervisors  of  denomi- 
national missionary  affairs. 

Our  Baptist  people  have,  as  a  rule,  always  lived  on 
friendly  terms  with  their  Christian  neighbors,  and  the  de- 
nomination has  cooperated  with  others  in  a  varied  social 
and  humanitarian  service.  The  relationship  which  obtained 
between  Southern  Baptists  and  other  evangelical  denomina- 
tions on  the  mission  fields  caused  no  disturbance  in  the  Bap- 
tist ranks  until  the  Edinburgh  Conference  met  in  1910.  It 
was  at  this  Conference  that  the  new  missionary  statesman- 
ship first  showed  its  hand  in  a  large  and  ecumenical  way  and 
to  such  degree  as  to  arouse  the  mistrust  of  Baptists.  The 
Movement  which  issued  from  that  Conference  and  perpet- 
uates it  intrudes  into  denominational  policies  and  missionary 
management.  It  is  this  assumption  of  prerogatives  which 
has  called  forth  protest. 

A  brief  review  of  the  history  of  inter-denominational 
missionary  conferences  will  help  to  keep  the  case  before  us. 

The  Edinburgh  Conference  was  but  one  of  a  succession  of 
inter-denominational  missionary  gatherings,  but  it  was  one 


The  Union  Movement  103 

in  some  of  its  features  very  distinct  from  all  of  tliem.  Bap- 
tists participated  in  all  such  previous  conferences  and  in 
this  one.  In  May,  1854,  the  first  of  these  great  meetings  was 
held  in  New  York.  In  October  of  the  same  year,  another 
was  held  in  London.  *'The  most  important  result  was  the 
promotion  of  brotherly  feeling  and  a  helpful  interchange  of 
opinion  on  a  limited  number  of  topics."  Another  was  held 
in  Liverpool  in  18C0,  and  a  similar  one  in  Conference  Hall, 
London,  in  1878,  at  which  thirty-four  missionary  societies 
were  represented,  and  probably  for  the  first  time  the  ques- 
tion of  "surveys"  was  the  leading  topic  of  discussion.  In 
1888  the  Centenary  Missionary  Conference  was  held  in  Lon- 
don. The  emphasis  of  this  conference  fell  upon  the  matter 
of  diffusing  information  about  missions,  the  importance  and 
success  of  the  work,  and  a  limited  cooperati<m  received  favor- 
able consideration.  The  Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference 
met  in  New  York  during  the  latter  part  of  April  and  first  of 
May,  1900.  This  was  the  sixth  and  the  greatest  of  all  these 
inter-denominational  meetings.  Two  thousand  three  hundred 
representatives,  from  115  societies  and  48  countries,  were 
present. 

All  of  the  above  conferences  sought  to  stimulate  inter- 
est in  missions,  increase  general  knowledge  of  the  great  task, 
and  to  promote  large  giving.  They  incited  fellowship  along 
these  lines  of  endeavor,  but  left  matters  of  policy  and  admin- 
istration to  the  respective  denominations  and  their  appointed 
and  responsible  agents.  Discussion,  action  and  plans  were 
confined  to  a  "limited  number  of  topics,"  and  the  result  was 
"brotherly  feeling  and  a  helpful  interchange  of  opinion." 
When  the  Conference  met  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  in  1910, 
it  was  at  once  evident  that  the  new  statesmanship  would  give 
certain  direction  to  the  Conference  and  make  it  a  powerful 
means  to  secure  definite  ends  which  had  not  in  the  other 


104  The  Union  Movement 

conferences  been  the  main  consideration;  which,  indeed, 
scarcely  received  consideration  at  all.  A  spasm  of  sentiment 
for  union  and  an  excessive  deferentialness  forbade  the  dis- 
cussion in  the  Conference  of  missions  to  Roman  Catholic 
countries. 

"The  Edinburgh  Conference  represents  a  decided  step  for- 
ward in  the  conference  idea."  The  subjects,  which  were  as- 
signed the  "commissions''  two  years  in  advance  of  the  Con- 
ference, show  that  it  was  not  intended  that  discussion  should 
now  be  confined  to  a  "limited  number  of  topics,"  but  to  cer- 
tain matters  which  the  leaders  wished  to  put  forth.  Says 
a  friendly  historian  of  this  Conference:  "It  will  readily  be 
seen  from  the  topics  of  the  various  commissions  that  the 
attention  of  this  Conference  was  turned  to  questions  of 
policy  and  internal  development  of  missionary  work."  Com- 
mission VIII  reported  on  "Cooperation  and  the  Promotion 
of  Unity."  This  was  the  climacteric  feature  of  the  Confer- 
ence. Up  to  this  point  plans  and  discussion  had  been  cul- 
minating. Before  adjournment  a  "Continuation  Committee," 
consisting  of  thirty-five  members,  was  appointed,  which  in  a 
two  days'  session  before  leaving  Edinburgh  elected  Dr.  John 
R.  Mott  chairman  and  appointed  sub-committees.  This  or- 
ganization is  now  practically  world-wide. 

"The  Edinburgh  Conference  was  unique  in  another  impor- 
tant particular.  Other  conferences  ended  with  their  adjourn- 
ment, but  the  Edinburgh  Conference  goes  on  through  its  Con- 
tinuation Committee.  It  is  this  fact  which  gives  significance 
to  the  Committee.  The  Conference  set  in  motion  powerful 
forces  and  accelerated  others  which  were  already  in  opera- 
tion. It  was  felt  that  it  should  not  dissolve  without  creat- 
ing some  body  which  could  deal  more  deliberately  and  sys- 
tematically with  those  forces.  Antecedent  fears  that  the  Con- 
ference might  go  too  far  vanished  as  sessions  progressed,  un- 
til amid  scenes  of  profound  solemnity  and  emotion  the  dele- 


The  Union  Movement  105 

gates  by  unanimous  vote  constituted  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee. The  Committee  represents  interests  which  have 
never  before  been  united.    .    .    . 

''The  Committee  is  prosecuting  its  work  through  twelve 
special  committees  along  many  lines  which  illustrate  the  need 
of  cooperative  study.  Not  least  among  these  is  the  promo- 
tion of  cooperation  and  unity  in  mission  work."  (Unity  in 
Missions,  hy  Arthur  J.  Brown,  page  I40.) 

The  significance  of  cooperation  has,  in  the  case  of  this 
Movement,  been  entirely  changed.  The  ultimate  end  and  aim 
for  which  cooperation  is  asked  is  denominational  absorption 
and  elimination. 

The  name  "Continuation  Committee"  is  explicative  of  its 
function.  The  purpose  of  the  Conference  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Continuation  Committee  was  in  part  declared 
to  be  "to  carry  out  on  lines  of  the  Conference  itself  the  fol- 
lowing ideas : 

"(1)  To  maintain  in  prominence  the  idea  of  the  World 
Missionary  Conference  as  a  means  of  coordinating  missionary 
work,  etc. 

"(4)  To  devise  plans  for  maintaining  the  intercourse 
which  the  World  Missionary  Conference  has  stimulated  be- 
tween different  bodies  of  workers.'^  {Report  of  Commission 
VIII,  page  U60.) 

The  Congress  on  Christian  work  in  Latin-America,  which 
met  in  Panama  in  1916,  followed  the  lead  of  the  Edinburgh 
Conference  and  had  a  commission  on  ''Cooperation  and  the 
Promotion  of  Unity."  The  union  program  was  now  well 
projected,  and  the  Movement  had  its  lines  out.  The  Panama 
Congress  was  a  harmonious  expression  of  the  policies  of  the 
Movement.  The  report  of  the  above  Commission,  issued  by 
the  Congress,  and  published  by  the  Missionary  Education 


106  The  Union  Movement 

Movement,  New  York,  in  three  volumes,  is  an  illuminating 
commentary. 

This  mighty  Movement  is  now  not  only  world-wide  in  its 
activities  and  plans,  powerful  in  the  personalities,  influences 
and  resources  which  are  behind  it,  but  it  comprehends  the 
whole  scheme  of  missionary  effort  and  seeks  to  combine  at 
home  and  abroad  every  sort  of  sect  which  claims  any  common 
element  of  Christian  faith,  in  every  task  which  the  respective 
denominations  have  set  for  themselves  on  the  foreign  field 
and  referred  to  their  appointed  agents  for  administration. 

Indiscrimination  in  making  provision  for  representation 
in  the  Panama  Congress  and  the  change  of  name  for  it  in 
order  to  placate  the  Koman  Catholics  brought  forth  an  heroic 
protest  from  sixty-odd  honored  missionaries  in  South 
America,  a  fact  which,  strange  to  say,  receives  no  recognition 
in  the  report  of  the  Congress,  which  would  have  the  world 
believe  that  endorsement  was  well-nigh  unanimous. 

Cooperation  in  the  plans  of  the  Movement  is  much  more 
than,  and  something  quite  different  from,  ordinary  Christian 
cooperation.  We  insist  that  this  distinction  should  be  kept 
in  mind  by  those  who  discuss  the  matter  and  the  attitude  of 
Southern  Baptists  to  this  Movement.  Fraternal  Christian 
relationships  and  denominational  cooperation  on  the  basis 
of  this  platform  are  not  the  same  things.  Cooperation  in 
this  instance  by  a  denomination  or  its  representative  agency 
means  commitment  to  well-defined  policies  originated  and 
operated  outside  of  the  denominations ;  and  such  cooperation 
does  not  afford  the  denominations  a  chance  to  control  these 
policies.  Even  those  who  have  the  most  friendly  regard  for 
other  Christians  and  other  denominations  must  see  that  the 
carefully  laid  and  fully  matured  plans  and  policies  of  this 
Movement  forbid  denominational  cooperation  where  a  de- 
nomination has  a  missionary  program  of  its  own  and  dis- 
tinctive principles  to  guard.     Perhaps  this  distinction  and 


The  Union  Movement  107 

the  writer's  personal  attitude  toward  the  leaders  of  the  Move- 
ment are  made  as  plain  as  we  can  make  them  in  letters  which 
the  writer  addressed  to  an  ofificer  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Conference  who  had  informed  him  that  he  had  been  elected 
to  membership  on  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  of 
that  Conference.  The  letter  is  the  second  of  several  letters, 
in  the  first  of  which  the  writer  had,  as  courteously  as  he 
could,  declined  membership  on  the  Committee  of  Reference 
and  Counsel : 

"My  Dear  Doctor: 

"When  I  was  notified  of  my  election  to  membership  on 
the  Committee,  I  wrote  asking  that  my  name  be  omitted  from 
the  list  of  members.  The  brethren  composing  the  Counsel,  in 
a  spirit  of  fraternity,  did  not  act  on  this  request.  I  think 
that  a  very  frank  and  brotherly  statement  ought  to  be  made, 
at  least  to  you,  concerning  my  personal  attitude  and  that  of 
Southern  Baptists  as  expressed  through  their  Convention. 

"I  have,  and  I  feel  certain  that  the  great  majority  of  my 
brethren  have,  a  feeling  of  genuine  Christian  love  for  all  our 
brethren  and  for  the  class  of  men  in  particular  who  repre- 
sent the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  x\merica.  The 
Conference  has,  however,  projected  certain  movements  which 
are  strongly  emphasized  and  which  claim  a  large  attention  by 
those  who  compose  the  Conference,  to  which  neither  I  nor 
the  brotherhood  represented  by  this  Board  could  give  con- 
sent. I  refer  in  particular  to  the  far-reaching  plans  for  cer- 
tain forms  of  union  effort  in  Foreign  Mission  work.  I  need 
not  name  the  particular  items  in  the  program  of  the  Confer- 
ence to  which  we  object.  I  may  simply  say  for  myself,  that 
while  I  covet  a  large  fellowship  with  my  brethren  of  what- 
ever name  who  love  my  Saviour  and  are  seeking  to  promote 
His  honor  and  secure  for  men  the  benefits  which  are  found 
in  Him,  I  cannot  give  my  influence  to  an  extra-denomina- 
tional organization  which  undertakes  to  determine  questions 
of  policy  for  the  respective  denominational  mission  boards.  T 
believe  that  there  is  a  common  ground  on  which  we  can  meet 
for  mutual  edification,  instruction  and  inspiration.     If  the 


108  The  Union  Movement 

Foreign  Missions  Conference  had  confined  itself  to  this  class 
of  work,  and  not  assumed  to  fix  policies  for  the  mission 
boards,  and  in  that  way  interfere  with  recognized  principles 
of  the  respective  denominations,  there  would  have  been,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  a  large  field  of  usefulness  for  it.  However, 
I  have  no  disposition  to  dictate  to  the  Conference  nor  to 
worry  you  with  a  long  letter.  I  am  only  giving  you  in  a 
frank  and  fraternal  way  my  personal  reasons  for  asking  that 
my  name  be  dropped  from  membership. 
"Yours  fraternally," 

It  became  necessary  to  write  a  third  letter,  which  is  as 
follows : 

"My  Dear  Doctor: 

"I  have  your  favor  of  June  15,  and  have  the  highest  ap- 
preciation of  the  spirit  in  which  you  write.  I  do  not,  how- 
ever, feel  that  it  is  wise  for  me  to  withdraw  my  request  that 
my  name  be  dropped  from  membership  in  the  Foreign  Mis- 
sions Conference. 

"I  do  not  think  that  the  Conference  exercises  any  author- 
ity over  any  board  or  organization.  I  do  think,  however, 
that  several  positions  to  which  the  Conference  is  thoroughly 
committed,  and  which  are  advocated  in  much  of  the  litera- 
ture sent  out  by  the  respective  commissions,  give  occasion 
for  much  embarrassment  to  cooperating  boards  which  have 
contrary  convictions  to  those  which  are  a  part  of  the  general 
program  of  the  Conference.  For  instance,  the  whole  move- 
ment seems  committed  to  the  national  church  idea,  the  in- 
discriminate exchange  of  church  letters,  union  school  work, 
including  theological  work,  and  strongly  favors  the  partition- 
ing of  territory.  Southern  Baptists  are  on  record  in  opposi- 
tion to  these  policies,  as  the  Minutes  of  the  last  three  sessions 
of  the  Convention  will  show.  I  am  persuaded  that  you  are 
well  enough  acquainted  with  the  views  of  Southern  Baptists 
to  understand  fully  that  a  policy  which  includes  particulars 
such  as  these  which  I  have  recited,  antagonize  the  customs 
and  the  convictions  of  our  people.  I  am  quite  persuaded  that 
the  brethren  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  would  not 
receive  with  favor,  especially  from  a  new  member  of  one  of 


The  Union  Movement  109 

its  committees,  any  suggestion  looking  to  so  radical  a  change 
in  policy  as  would  be  necessary  to  bring  tiie  Movement  into 
working  harmony  with  Southern  Baptists'  views  on  such 
matters.  It  seems  best,  therefore,  both  because  of  my  per- 
sonal convictions,  and  because  of  my  official  relation  to  the 
denomination,  that  I  should  not  be  considered  a  member  of 
the  Conference. 

"You  will  let  me  say  that  I  recognize  the  fact  that  I  and 
my  people  are  very  likely  to  be  placed  in  a  false  light  by 
this  dissent.  Men  who  are  thoroughly  committed  to  the 
above  policies,  and  who  have  given  them  their  unquestioning 
support  in  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference,  will  think  that 
we  lack  sympathy  and  breadth  of  view — a  judgment  to  which 
we  do  not,  of  course,  plead  guilty.  Southern  Baptists  are 
not  surpassed  by  any  people  in  the  world  in  according  just 
liberty  of  judgment  and  conscience  to  others,  and  in  still 
holding  those  who  exercise  these  in  fraternal  regard.  We 
feel,  however,  that  such  matters  as  we  have  referred  to  are 
to  be  settled  finally  on  a  sharpened  religious  conscience  rather 
than  by  the  cultivation  of  laxity.  We  feel,  furthermore,  that 
the  most  stalwart  conviction  is  necessary  in  order  to  put 
afield  a  conquering  missionary  program,  and  that  if  we  would 
save  Japan,  China  and  the  other  lands,  we  must  foster  a 
sensitive  conscience  for  truth  and  the  strongest  possible  per- 
sonal conviction  of  its  sacredness.  We  believe  it  is  far  better 
for  the  missionary  enterprise  that  all  parties  should  hold 
steadfastly  and  courageously  to  their  convictions  until  such 
light  has  broken  in  as  will  convince  them  that  they  ought  to 
abandon  them.  So  long  as  any  group  of  Christians  hold  con- 
victions which  they  think  to  be  founded  upon  the  Word  of 
God,  the  rest  of  us  ought,  it  seems  to  me,  to  respect  their 
convictions,  and  never  seek  to  combine  influences  which  will 
embarrass  them.  Under  the  circumstances  no  one  who  holds 
the  common  faith  of  Southern  Baptists  could  be  a  member 
of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  without  being  embar- 
rassed and  embarrassing  other  brethren  who  are  committed 
to  the  policies  of  the  organization. 

"I  beg  you  to  accept  for  yourself  my  thanks  for  your  cour- 
teous letter  and  my  assurance  of  goodwill  and   Christian 
regard  for  all  my  brethren  who  compose  the  Conference. 
''Yours  fraternally," 


110  The  Union  Movement 

The  respective  denominations  in  America  must  surrender 
their  own  policies  in  favor  of  the  policies  of  this  Movement, 
as  radically  difierent  as  these  are,  or  they  must  stay  out  of 
the  Movement.  The  Movement  does  not  represent  the  prac- 
tices of  any  denomination  in  America.  Kepresentation  in 
it  is  not  a  question  of  joining  a  company  of  Christian  breth- 
ren for  the  purpose  of  conferring  and  deciding  upon  plans 
and  policies  of  cooperation.  The  plans  and  policies  of  the 
Movement  are  matured  and  announced  even  down  to  details, 
and  are  already  in  operation  the  world  over.  They  repre- 
sent the  mission  theories  of  a  few  individuals  and  not  the 
ideals  of  any  denomination,  if  practice  at  home  speaks  con- 
vincingly at  all.  We  repeat  that  cooperation  in  such  case 
means  denominational  capitulation  to  the  leadership  of  a 
few  men,  however  good  and  wise  these  men  may  be. 

But  why  should  this  Movement  fix,  not  only  policies  for 
the  conduct  of  missionary  enterprises  which  are  supported 
by  the  denominations,  and,  as  we  would  therefore  reasonably 
conclude,  should  be  under  denominational  control,  but  also 
fix  standards  of  Christian  breadth  and  fraternity?  Just  why 
should  inclination  to  join  up  denominational  work  and 
destiny  with  a  Movement  so  young,  with  policies  so  radical, 
and  directed  by  so  small  a  company  of  men,  however  hon- 
ored, be  looked  upon  as  a  special  mark  of  intellectual  breadth 
and  Christian  maturity,  and  disinclination  to  do  so  be 
thought  a  mark  of  unbrotherliness  and  general  ugliness? 
Why  should  the  men  and  Movement  which  infringe  upon  the 
missionary  and  ecclesiastical  policies  of  all  Christian  denom- 
inations, be  accorded  the  distinction  of  being  considered  the 
exemplars  of  superior  civility? 

Of  course,  every  good  cause  is  sure  to  be  espoused  by 
some  men  who  are  intolerant  and  who  make  their  defense 
of  it  in  a  bad  spirit.  This  is  likely  to  occur  in  the  present 
case,  but  neither  party,  we  dare  say,  will  secure  the  follow- 


The  Union  Movement  111 

ing  of  all  the  intolerant  and  vindictive  spirits,  and  therefore 
there  is  no  ground  for  considering  either  to  be  the  sole 
ollender.  All  good  men  want  to  see  the  truth  preached  in 
love,  and  there  is  quite  as  ample  provision  made  for  this  by 
the  denominations  as  there  is  by  inter-denominational  move- 
ments. All  denominationalists  are  not  as  courteous  and 
charitable  as  we  would  have  them  be,  and  all  the  inter-denom- 
inationalists  are  not  as  beautifully  sweet  as  they  would  have 
others  to  be.  We  have  seen  some  pacifists  who  were  quite 
belligerent  in  the  advocacy  of  their  principles.  Some  who 
make  most  of  sentiment  for  broad  fellowships  sometimes  flare 
hot  against  those  of  their  own  household  of  faith  who  do  not 
agree  with  them.  Such  a  question  as  Christian  union  affords 
excellent  occasion  for  all  of  us  to  examine  ourselves. 

We  have  not  outlined  in  this  chapter,  as  the  heading  of 
it  might  suggest,  a  possible  cooperation,  although  mutual 
Christian  tasks  are  acknowledged.  It  may  be  best  to  leave  the 
matter  in  this  shape  as  individuals  will  probably  decide  the 
matter  for  themselves,  whatever  course  the  denominations 
may  pursue,  individuals  being  influenced  only  by  their  own 
preferences  and  whatever  restraint  their  respect  for  the  atti- 
tude and  policies  of  their  denominations  may  have  upon 
them. 

It  is  proper,  however,  that  we  should  say  that  there  are 
certain  lines  of  Christian  work,  some  of  it  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, in  which  cordial  and  helpful  joint  eff'ort  is  possible. 
It  may  also  be  said  that  such  cooperation  could  more  likely 
be  secured  if  unembarrased  by  the  program  under  review.  It 
is  a  pity  that  attempt  to  deal  with  mission  policies  which 
belong  to  the  denominations  as  such  should  be  allowed  to 
cause  mistrust  and  interfere  with  a  possible,  a  helpful  and  a 
harmless  cooperation.  Distinctive  denominational  principles 
are  not  involved  in  such  questions  as  a  common  social  serv- 
ice, temperance  and  moral  reform,  public  sanitation,  inter- 


112  The  Union  Movement 

national  peace,  Sabbath  observance,  joint  protests  against 
the  appropriation  of  public  funds  to  sectarian  institutions, 
defense  of  the  public  schools^  etc.,  etc.  There  is  room  for 
conference  between  mission  boards  of  respective  denomina- 
tions concerning  such  matters  as  office  efficiency  and  econ- 
omy, transportation  and  passports  for  missionaries,  combined 
influence  in  the  interest  of  international  protection  of  mis- 
sionaries and  mission  property,  methods  of  financing  the 
missionary  enterprise,  the  development  of  certain  classes  of 
givers,  the  health  and  comfort  of  missionaries.  A  large  part 
of  the  literature  which  is  used  to  promote  interest  in  mis- 
sions could  be  produced  and  used  by  the  denominational 
boards  in  common  and  at  great  saving  of  mission  money  if 
the  matter  were  left  to  them  and  they  could  see  that  their 
policies  were  not  interfered  with  in  such  literature. 

Southern  Baptists  do  cooperate  with  others  in  matters 
where  denominational  principles  are  not  involved,  as  in  the 
selection  of  international  Sunday  school  lessons,  international 
peace  and  various  forms  of  Christian  charity.  There  is  no 
reason  why  there  should  not  be  points  of  contact  in  Foreign 
Mission  work,  and  individuals  should  not  act  with  equal  free- 
dom in  this  as  in  other  things,  except  that  a  program  has 
been  made  which  challenges  fundamental  principles  and  mis- 
sionary policies  of  the  denomination.  Cooperation  with  such 
a  Movement  cannot  be  had  without  disparaging  denomina- 
tional principles  and  policies.  Much  of  the  literature  pro- 
duced by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement,  which  is  sim- 
ply a  department  of  this  general  Movement,  is  unadaptable 
to  the  use  of  those  who  care  for  their  denominational  pro- 
grams, and  it  stands  in  the  way  of  cordial  relations.  If  the 
Mission  Study  books  which  carry  the  program  of  the  Move- 
ment are  put  into  the  hands  of  the  immature  in  our  churches, 
these  get  but  one  side  of  a  question,  and  that  the  side  which  is 
subversive  of  the  very   principles  which  the  denomination 


The  Union  Movement  113 

feels  it  is  bound  to  inculcate  in  the  minds  of  the  young.  This 
is  but  an  example  of  how  the  Movement  itself  defeats  pos- 
sible cooperation  and  becomes  responsible  for  protest  and 
dissent.  Men  who  have  assumed  to  project  a  Movement 
which  subverts  all  denominationalism  and  flatly  contradicts 
historical  and  operative  policies  and  practices  of  all  denomi- 
nations should  not  be  surprised  at  this.  Southern  Baptists 
have  fully  made  up  their  minds  that  they  will  not  consent  to 
a  course  so  radical  although  thoughtful  men  among  them 
will  regret  that  Christian  and  denominational  relationships 
have  been  disturbed. 
8 


114  The  Union  Movement 

CHAPTER  IX. 

A   BAPTIST   FOKEIGN   MISSION   PROGEAM. 

But  what  is  the  chief  significance  of  a  situation  thus  pro- 
duced? What  deductions  will  Baptists  draw  from  it?  On 
what  line  of  action  will  the  denomination  concentrate  its 
powers? 

The  Baptist  attitude  is  not  a  negative  one.  Baptists  are 
propagandists.  They  have  a  genius  for  propagandism.  The 
history  of  the  denomination  is  a  record  of  missionary  leader- 
ship, evangelization,  multiplication  of  numbers,  expansion, 
growth  and  achievement.  There  is  a  reason  for  this.  Bap- 
tists hold  a  faith  which  is  vitalizing  and  energizing.  They 
are  sticklers  for  the  essential  and  vital  elements  in  the  gos- 
pel, the  safeguarding  and  faithful  proclamation  of  these. 
They  hold  truth  which  is  quickening  and  propelling  in  those 
who  accept  it.  A  dynamic  faith  and  a  static  denomination 
are  incongruous  and  impossible.  Vitality  in  the  message 
keeps  up  vitality  and  activity  in  a  denomination  which  holds 
the  truth  consistently.  There  is  a  tremendous  energy  in  the 
Baptist  millions  in  America.  It  must  be  utilized  or  prove 
ruinous.  It  will  be  found  destructive  if  it  is  not  made  con- 
structive.   Their  faith  generates  activity. 

This  faith  makes  Baptists  very  annoying  to  some  people 
who  do  not  understand  why  they  are  such  ardent  propa- 
gandists. A  stalwart  faith  makes  valiant  disciples.  A  valid 
confession  of  faith  with  Baptists  includes  personal  experi- 
ence of  the  doctrines  of  grace.  Such  a  creed  is  sure  to  gender 
activity  and  aggressiveness.  Men  cannot  be  expected  long 
to  keep  up  enthusiasm  for  mere  forms,  ceremonies,  externals. 
It  is  natural  that  cold,  dull  uniformity  should  follow  formal- 


The  Union  Movement  115 

ism  and  ceremonialism,  but  no  one  can  find  membership  in  a 
Baptist  church,  nor  be  accepted  as  a  candidate  for  one  of 
the  Christian  ordinances,  who  does  not  profess  personal  ex- 
I>erience  of  truth  which  vitally  relates  the  soul  to  God.  The 
Baptist  contention  for  the  New  Testament  ordinances  is  to 
be  explained  by  the  fact  that  these  ordinances  signify  the 
paramount  facts  of  the  gospel  of  atonement  and  presuppose 
a  personal  experience  of  these  doctrines  by  those  who  ob- 
serve them.  In  these  two  ordinances  ceremony  is  reduced 
to  the  minimum,  even  as  they  represent  sympathetically  the 
minimum  to  which  a  saving  faith  can  be  reduced. 

The  things,  therefore,  which  constitute  the  reason  and  the 
justification  for  a  separate  Baptist  denomination,  are  at 
their  roots  those  which  concern  the  essential  essence  of  a 
pure  evangelicalism  and  an  effectual  missionary  message; 
while  the  things  which  distinguish  other  denominations  one 
from  another  and  separate  them  from  Baptists,  concern,  in  a 
very  la^'ge  way,  to  say  the  least,  superficialities,  which,  where 
they  do  not  impinge  vital  doctrines,  do  not  strengthen  the 
missionary  message.  No  people  in  the  world,  therefore,  have 
irrenter  instification  for  forming  themselves  into  a  mission- 
ary irroup  or  cause  for  zeal  in  propagating  their  faith  than 
"Rnr^^^is+s  have. 

What  then?  Well,  manifestly,  Baptists  must  have  a  For- 
eign Mission  program  of  their  own. 

T.   A  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Program  is  a  Necessity. 

1.  Baptists  must,  as  thus  appears,  have  siicJi  a  pronram 
to  save  their  missionary  message.  This  message,  so  full  of 
jrop]iel  vitalities  and  so  clearly  distinguished  by  the  primacy 
and  freedom  which  it  gives  to  fundamental  and  essential 
elements  of  the  gospel,  is  peculiarly  threatened  by  this  Move- 
ment which  proposes  to  put  an  end  to  denominational  self- 


116  The  Union  Movement 

propagation.  We  do  not  need  to  reproduce  the  proof  of  this. 
Ample  and  fair  quotations  already  given  warrant  the  state- 
ment. Other  denominations  can  decide  for  themselves  in  the 
light  of  facts  which,  for  all  of  them  are  portentious,  but  Bap- 
tists everywhere  should  act,  and  act  decisively  and  in  con- 
cert. If  such  a  missionary  message  as  Baptists  bear  is 
suffered  to  be  neutralized  by  this  Movement,  the  whole  mis- 
sionary enterprise  will  suffer  great  loss  for  an  indefinite 
future.  One  cannot  think  of  missionary  policies  without 
thinking  of  the  whole  future  of  his  denomination  and  of 
evangelical  Christianity  itself.  The  missionary  method  and 
message  are  tremendously  determinative  of  the  type  of  Chris- 
tianity which  shall  prevail  in  the  world.  Baptists  not  only 
have  their  part  of  the  task  of  saving  the  world,  but  they 
have  the  gravest  responsibility  for  saving  the  truth  by  which 
the  world  is  to  be  saved. 

2.  Southern  Baptists  must  have  a  great  Foreign  Mission 
program  to  justify  their  dissent,  and  to  meet  the  difficulties 
which  the  Federation  Movement  is  making  for  denomina- 
tional mission  work.  Our  most  convincing  argument  against 
wrong  missionary  methods  is  the  practice  of  right  and  effec- 
tive methods.  This  is,  too,  the  only  escape  from  defeat  for 
our  missionary  enterprise.  A  vigorous  offensive  has  al- 
ways proved  to  be  a  winning  strategy  for  Baptists. 
Neither  sentimental  neutrality  of  the  inter-denominational 
type,  nor  the  grouchy  defensive  tactics  of  the  hardshells  has 
ever  saved  the  Baptist  message  or  advanced  the  denomina- 
tion's lines.  Surrender  or  ineffective  isolation  has  always  fol- 
lowed such  manoeuvers  as  these.  But  wherever  Baptists  have 
in  high  and  holy  courage  acted  under  the  Commission  and 
gone  straight  to  the  people,  teaching  them  to  obey  the  truth 
and  giving  them  an  example  of  such  obedience  and  of  the 
excellencies  of  a  loving  Christian  spirit,  they  have  won.  This 
is  the  lesson  which  all  achievement  and  growth  has  for  us. 


The  Union  Movement  117 

That  is  a  very  simple  program,  but  it  wins  victories  and 
will,  at  last,  set  the  King  on  his  throne.  Southern  Baptists 
accepted  the  challenge  to  prosecute  a  great  Foreign  Mission 
program  when  they  went  to  record  as  opposed  to  the  union 
program  which  was  set  up  in  New  York.  They  both  assumed 
solemn  obligations  and  put  themselves  under  necessity  of  en- 
larging their  work  and  prosecuting  it  with  increasing  vigor 
when  they  declined  to  be  a  party  to  this  compromising  alli- 
ance. A  truly  great  denominational  Foreign  Mission  pro- 
gram will  justify  our  attitude,  show  that  we  are  missionary 
Baptists  indeed  and  not  merely  protesters.  By  such  a  pro- 
gram we  will  demonstrate  again  the  superior  value  of  our 
principles. 

3.  A  constructive  Foreign  Mission  program  is  necessary 
in  order  to  unify  the  denomination.  Nothing  can  so  draw 
and  hold  the  denomination  together  on  the  home  field,  the 
missionaries  together  on  the  foreign  field,  and  secure  unison 
of  purpose  and  action  between  the  missionaries  and  the  home 
constituency  as  a  great  positive  offensive.  Camp  life  is 
always  attended  with  friction  and  personal  alienations  which 
are  forgotten  in  the  trenches.  Our  people  believe  in  the 
gospel  as  in  nothing  else  and  that  the  gospel  alone  is  the 
means  of  life  to  any  people.  There  is  no  hope  for  the  Bap- 
tist who  cannot  be  enlisted  by  proper  effort  and  spirit  in 
the  task  of  giving  the  gospel  to  those  who  must  perish  with- 
out it.  The  Foreign  Mission  enterprise,  because  of  its  sole 
dependence  upon  the  gospel,  the  vastness  of  human  need 
which  it  faces,  the  sacrificial  spirit  which  alone  will  take 
care  of  it,  is  above  any  other  enterprise  of  the  denomination 
a  unifying  factor.  Advocates  of  inter-denominational  ism 
see  their  greatest  opportunity  to  effect  their  ends  by  identify- 
ing them  with  this  enterprise  which  is  so  full  of  sentiment. 
If  American  Baptists  are  wise,  they  will  see  in  the  enter- 
prise an  opportunity  to  unify  their  own  constituency  and  to 


118  The  Union  Movement 

marshall  it  for  the  largest  service  it  can  possibly  render  to 
a  lost  world  in  the  name  of  its  Lord.  If  Foreign  Missions 
serves  this  high  and  holy  purpose,  it  must  be  so  conducted 
as  to  claim  the  confidence  and  subdue  the  conscience  of  Bap- 
tist people.  It  must,  therefore,  be  projected  on  a  scale 
which  will  engage  the  best  energies  of  all  and  leave  little 
time  and  occasion  for  idle  and  hurtful  disputation. 

4.  We  need  a  large  Foreign  Mission  program  to  amplify 
the  lives  of  our  people.  Men  grow  toward  their  ideals  and 
are  made  in  likeness  to  them.  Keligious  denominations  are 
subject  to  the  same  law.  If  we  are  to  be  a  great  people,  we 
must  aim  at  big  things,  and  aiming  at  them,  we  shall  grow 
big  men  and  big  women  for  the  Kingdom  of  God.  We  covet 
more  than  soundness  for  the  faith  and  safety  for  the  ship 
of  missionary  enterprise.  We  covet  for  the  denomination 
men  and  women  who  in  Christian  character  and  spirituality 
match  this  great  enterprise.  There  are  things  to  be  done 
which  little  men  cannot  do;  but  this  enterprise  has  often 
made  big  men  out  of  unpromising  individuals  when  once  it 
claimed  their  hearts  and  their  hands.  If  American  Baptists 
would  have  the  denomination  adorned  with  men  and  women 
resplendent  in  Christian  graces  equal  to  any  rivals,  they 
should  seek  by  every  legitimate  means  to  bring  all  their  num- 
bers under  the  spell  of  this  enterprise  which  seeks  to  set 
Jesus  on  His  throne  above  all  kings  and  usurpers.  Through 
the  periscope  of  Foreign  Missions  men  and  women  who  are 
submerged  in  their  daily  tasks  of  office,  field  or  kitchen,  get 
world  views,  and  their  souls  are  inflated  by  the  dream  of 
universal  empire  for  their  adorable  Saviour,  the  Prince  of 
Peace.  The  missionary  ideal  sets  amplias  before  the  eyes  of 
every  participant. 

5.  Justice  to  our  missionaries  demands  that  tee  shall 
reenforce  them  dy  such  a  program.  The  Southern  Baptist 
Convention  has  said  to  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  and  to  its 


The  Union  Movement  119 

missionaries  that  it  will  not  conduct  its  Foreign  Mission 
work  on  tlie  lines  of  this  new  Movement,  but  that  it  will 
maintain  the  same  type  of  denominationalism  and  operate 
the  same  missionary  policies  abroad  that  it  does  at  home. 
The  missionaries  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the  South- 
ern Baptist  Convention  have  accepted  in  good  faith  the  de- 
liverance of  the  Convention.  They  are  true  men  and  desire 
to  see  a  unified  denomination  at  home,  engaged  in  prosecut- 
ing with  confidence  and  conscience  a  positive  and  winning 
campaign  abroad.  The  men  and  women  who  represent 
Southern  Baptists  in  Mexico,  the  South  America  Republics, 
Japan,  China,  Africa  and  Italy  will  keep  faith  with  their 
brethren.  If  they  are  given  that  support  which  is  necessary 
to  keep  heart,  they  will  show  invincible  missionary  heroism 
and  carry  our  Baptist  missionary  cause  to  victory  in  these 
lands;  although  for  a  season,  at  least,  there  will  be  strong 
odds  against  some  of  them  and  the  course  they  are  under 
instructions  to  pursue. 

Southern  Baptists  could  not  well  be  under  a  more  solemn 
obligation  than  this  to  enforce  and  strongly  support  these 
men  who  are  at  such  a  time  called  upon  to  hold  the  outposts. 
The  missionaries  need  men  and  equipment,  and  they  need 
these  immediately  and  in  unprecedented  and  numbers  suffi- 
ciency. But,  if,  after  announcing  our  dissent  and  authorizing 
the  continuance  of  an  independent  denominational  program, 
we  continue  to  leave  more  than  half  of  the  native  churches 
without  houses  of  worship,  hospitals  without  equipment, 
surgeons  without  instruments,  schools  with  half  the  normal 
corps  of  teachers,  and  send  out  a  dozen  missionaries  when 
fifty  or  a  hundred  are  urgently  needed  to  strengthen  im- 
periled positions  and  lead  victorious  offensives,  we  shall 
thereby  let  good  and  true  men  suffer  while  they  faithfully 
endeavor  to  prosecute  the  will  of  their  brethren  at  home. 
The  Judson  Centennial  money  has  enabled    the    Board    to 


120  The  Union  Movement 

take  care  of  some  of  these  needs  which  we  had  suffered  to 
go  without  attention  from  the  beginning  of  our  work;  but 
so  great  is  the  accumulated  need,  and  such  are  the  growing 
necessities  of  the  work  on  the  vast  field  of  our  missionary 
operations,  hundreds  of  equally  urgent  matters  are  still  un- 
provided for. 

Baptist  missionaries  in  China,  in  their  triennial  meeting 
at  Chefoo  in  June,  1916,  adopted  ''A  Baptist  Program  for 
China."  This  program  is  thoroughly  constructive  as  well 
as  sound.  The  reason,  the  motive  and  the  character  of  it  is 
suggested  by  this :  ^'Living  as  we  do  in  the  greatest  mission 
field  of  the  world,  we,  too,  are  constrained  to  place  before 
our  home  churches,  our  mission  boards,  and  our  missions  in 
China,  individually  and  collectively,  a  Baptist  program  for 
China  which,  we  believe,  will  unite  all  our  missions  in  a  con- 
structive and  progressive  work,  and  challenge  every  Baptist 
missionary  in  China  to  put  forth  his  best  efforts." 

The  program  includes  evangelism,  educational  work,  med- 
ical work,  publication  work,  etc.  It  is  worthy  of  the  hearts 
and  heads  of  American  Baptist  missionaries  in  China  and 
constitutes  a  mighty  challenge  to  the  home  constituency.  For 
anybody  who  needs  it,  this  program  gives  the  most  convincing 
evidence  that  the  missionaries  in  China  can,  if  we  will  sup- 
port them,  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  the  policies  and  the  work 
of  American  Baptists  in  the  world's  great  Eepublic.  One  of 
the  missionaries,  commenting  upon  this  program,  says :  "It 
is  a  challenge  to  the  cooperation  of  all  the  Baptists  in  China, 
and,  if  Baptists  here  dare  to  think  big  thoughts,  surely  there 
are  Baptists  at  home  who  will  dare  to  help." 

Another  says :  "Our  greatest  need  is  unity  of  action.  A 
uniting  of  Baptist  strength  on  a  Baptist  program  would 
mean  the  greatest  triumph  for  the  Cross  the  world  has  ever 
seen." 


The  Union  Movement  121 

An  editorial  writer  in  the  IStew  East  says  of  this  program : 
"It  is  essentially  constructive  and  is  a  challenge  both  to  the 
progi-essive  and  conservative  Baptist  to  build  up  in  China 
institutions  worthy  of  our  Baptist  heritage.  This  Baptist 
program  for  China  ought  to  be  satisfactory." 

The  above  program  was  to  be  submitted  to  several  Mis- 
sions, and  then  to  the  Board  for  Approval.  As  an  example 
of  the  favor  with  which  this  Baptist  program  was  received 
by  one  of  the  Missions  and  of  the  readiness  of  the  mission- 
aries to  cooperate,  we  quote  the  following  from  the  Minutes 
of  the  South  China  Mission  under  date  of  January  1^  1917: 

"Whereas^  The  Foreign  Mission  Board,  with  the  hearty 
endorsement  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  has  decided 
to  carry  od  its  mission  enterprises  independently  of  other 
denominations;  and, 

"Whereas,  The  China  Baptist  Conference,  in  its  recent 
meeting  at  Chefoo,  has  recommended  to  the  Baptist  Missions 
of  China,  and  their  respective  Boards,  a  Program  which  aims 
at  the  unifying  of  Baptists,  and  the  enlisting  of  all  Baptist 
forces  in  the  developing  of  Baptist  enterprises. 

'^Be  it  resolved,  That  we,  the  South  China  Mission,  greatly 
rejoice  at  the  effort  to  bring  about  unity  and  cooperation 
among  the  Baptist  forces  in  China,  and,  that  we  give  our 
hearty  endorsement  to  a  general  Baptist  Program  for  China, 
and  pledge  ourselves  to  cooperate  with  the  other  Baptist  Mis- 
sions of  China  in  every  practical  way." 

These  records  show  something  of  the  possibilities  of  a 
great  denominational  program.  Certainly  these  men  and 
women  at  the  front  who  take  seriously  the  action  of  the 
Convention  deserve  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  home 
constituency.  I  am  persuaded  that  when  the  brotherhood 
has  been  made  to  realize  the  significance  of  the  thing  which 
the  Convention  has  done  in  determining  upon  its  independent 
course  of  action  and  the  dire  need  on  the  fields  for  reenforce- 


122  The  Union  Movement 

ment,  the  means  will  be  provided.  Many  times  have  I  been 
impressed  that  the  people  at  home  love  their  missionaries. 
There  is  nothing  more  beautiful  connected  with  Foreign  Mis- 
sions than  the  genuine  and  profound  affection  of  Christian 
men  and  women  for  those  who  hazard  all  for  the  name  of 
Christ.  If  there  is  anything  more  beautiful  than  this,  it  is 
the  humility,  the  modesty,  the  absence  of  self-consciousness 
and  devotion  which  characterize  nearly  all  foreign  mission- 
aries. Love  for  these  men  and  women  will  prompt  our  people 
to  give  the  money  necessary  to  strengthen  their  hands  when 
they  are  fully  informed  of  how  absolute  are  the  necessities 
to  be  met. 

The  necessities  of  the  work  and  the  whole  situation  which 
obtains  in  the  case  of  Baptist  Foreign  Missions  creates  a  de- 
mand for  a  great  program.  It  is  significant  and  bears  heavily 
upon  the  question  of  obligation,  that  these  great  necessities 
did  not  arise  until  the  denomination  at  home  was  well  able  to 
take  care  of  them.  The  challenge  of  such  an  hour  was  not 
made  to  Southern  Baptists  with  all  the  weight  of  present 
considerations  until  they  had  multiplied  tlieir  numbers  into 
millions,  their  wealth  into  billions,  and  had  lived  to  see  the 
Southern  states  the  most  thoroughly  evangelized  territory 
on  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  more  completely  dominated  by 
their  faith  than  any  like  territory  the  world  over.  God  calls 
us  to  this  service  at  a  time  when  we  are  able  to  go  up  at  His 
command  and  possess  the  land.  To  falter  and  turn  back 
before  such  duty  and  opportunity  is  to  doom  ourselves  to  an 
ingrowing  denominationalism  which  can  neither  take  care  of 
the  truth  nor  of  itself  in  the  face  of  conditions  now  prevail- 
ing. We  as  well  as  Providence  have  contributed  to  the 
urgency  of  the  present  hour,  and  we  cannot  preserve  our 
unity  and  justify  our  course  if  we  fail  to  make  and  support 
a  great  Foreign  Mission  program  at  this  time. 


The  Union  Movement  123 

II.  Some  Essentials  to  the  Program  Itself. 

Not  only  is  there  a  necessity  for  a  Baptist  Foreign  Mis- 
sion program,  but  there  are  certain  things  which  pertain  to 
such  a  program  that  must  be  considered. 

1.  This  program  should  he  put  on  at  once.  There  is  not 
a  moment  to  be  lost.  To  defer  it  is  to  defeat  it.  Already 
important  situations  are  threatened  and  advantages  of  the 
campaign  are  being  lost.  The  death  roll  of  heroic  mission- 
aries has  been  lengthened  in  recent  months.  Many  of  these 
who  have  answered  the  last  roll  call  sullered  needless  over- 
burden and  exhaustion.  One  little  woman,  who  came  home 
two  years  ago  for  a  brief  period  of  rest,  after  twenty-tw^o 
years  of  service  in  China,  told  a  company  of  her  sisters  that 
the  greatest  burden  she  had  borne  was  that  she  had  been  com- 
pelled to  live  on  borrowed  money.  She  gave  her  last  $200, 
the  total  savings  of  a  lifetime,  to  help  pay  a  debt  on  the  For- 
eign Mii^sion  Board.  She  now  rests  indeed.  A  few  mission- 
aries have  been  sent  out,  but  an  altogether  inadequate  num- 
ber have  gone  to  fill  up  the  gaps  in  China  which  she  and 
others  have  left  after  fighting  to  the  death-line.  For  ten 
years  or  more  Southern  Baptists  have  been  deferring  obliga- 
tions which  belong  to  the  current  support  of  the  work  until 
the  need  is  acute,  and  further  delay  in  meeting  these  obliga- 
tions is  certain  to  involve  inevitable  and  irreparable  loss  and 
as  equally  certain  to  break  the  spirits  and  impair  the  health 
of  splendid  men  and  women  who  ask  nothing  of  Southern 
Baptists  except  an  opportunity  and  the  means  to  serve  Christ 
and  their  denomination  in  the  hard  and  destitute  places  of 
the  earth.  Any  postponing  of  the  duty  to  reenforce  these 
men  and  w^omen  will  produce  consequences  wiiich  can  never 
be  set  down  to  the  praise  and  the  joy  of    Baptists. 

2.  To  fulfill  its  purpose,  the  program  jnust  recognize  the 
incomparahle  magnitude  of  the  Foreign  Mission  task — the 


124  The  Union  Movement 

vast  area  of  the  habitable  globe  yet  to  be  evangelized ;  the  in- 
comprehensible millions  still  to  be  won  to  Christ;  the  in- 
evitable conditions  and  difficulties  against  which  this  par- 
ticular work  must  be  prosecuted ;  the  fact  that  in  this  single 
enterprise  all  our  Christian  enterprises  are  included;  and, 
therefore,  the  exceptional  claim  of  Foreign  Missions  upon 
American  Christians  and  the  necessity  for  an  altered  pro- 
portion in  our  benevolences.  We  cannot,  on  the  foreign  field, 
take  care  of  education,  publication,  hospital,  church  building, 
colportage  on  what  is  required  at  home  to  provide  for  one  of 
these  departments.  I  say,  we  cannot  take  care  of  all  these 
departments,  on  our  vast  field  among  a  thousand  millions 
people,  on  the  basis  of  our  contributions  to  single  Chris- 
tian enterprises  at  home  among  thirty-six  millions  of  people 
where  evangelical  Christianity  and  Christian  workers  abound 
as  nowhere  else.  No  program  can  assure  success  in  handling 
this  multiform  undertaking  which  does  not  call  upon  indi- 
viduals and  churches  to  give  to  this  prodigious  and  all-inclu- 
sive task  of  Foreign  Missions  a  greatly  increased  support. 
A  church  budget  which  apportions  but  15  or  20  per  cent,  of 
the  contributions  of  its  members  to  this  greatest  and  only 
unified  appeal  will  never  enable  Southern  Baptists  to  take 
care  of  the  independent  denominational  program  which  the 
action  of  the  Convention  proposed.  If  there  is  reluctance  to 
recognize  and  face  facts  so  palpable,  the  denomination  must 
face  the  inevitable  result  of  seeing  its  program  on  the  foreign 
field  fail.  The  denomination  will  be  humiliated  by  its  fail- 
ure to  maintain  that  which  it  authorized,  and  the  forces 
which  are  against  a  denominational  program  will  gain  much 
advantage  thereby. 

3.  The  program  should  definitely  contemplate  and  in- 
clude the  entrance  into  new  doors  of  opportunity  wherever 
and  as  fast  as  God  makes  plain  to  us  that  He  has  opened 
them  and  promising  fields  incite  us,     Paul  was  constantly 


The  Union  Movement  125 

exploring  new  fields  in  his  missionary  work,  and,  as  a  wise 
husbandman,  was  ever  breaking  new  ground.  Southern  Bap- 
tists thrust  forth  their  representatives  into  most  of  the  fields 
now  occupied  when  they  were  few  and  poor  in  comparison 
with  their  numbers  and  wealth  at  the  present  time.  The 
denomination  needs  again  to  ''break  forth"  and  enter  Eussia 
and  perhaps  shortly  needy  European  countries.  The  denom- 
ination will  find  it  hard  to  justify  itself  in  ignoring  the 
providential  tokens  and  the  missionary  opportunities  which 
are  presented  in  connection  with  the  new  Russian  situation. 
There  should  be  the  speediest  and  most  resolute  effort  to 
assemble  forces  and  resources  for  the  purpose  of  making  a 
determined  and  prolonged  siege  in  Eussia.  Never  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  perhaps,  was  there  a  mission  field  so 
urgent  in  its  need  and  so  ripe  for  Baptist  harvests  as  this. 

4.  Those  who  project  and  promote  this  program  should 
do  it  in  full  and  definite  knowledge  of  the  constituency  which 
must  he  looked  to  for  support  of  it.  The  vast  numbers  of 
men  and  women  whom  we  have  won  to  Christ,  and  who  now 
hold  the  Baptist  faith  and  bear  their  name  in  the  South,  is 
the  greatest  of  all  facts  to  be  considered  in  connection  with 
a  missionary  program.  Inconsiderateness  for  the  viewpoint 
of  these  millions  of  Southern  Baptists,  obliviousness  or  in- 
difference to  their  faith,  their  importance  to  the  work,  or 
disregard  for  their  confidence  and  cooperation  in  missionary 
policies,  will  result  in  great  weakness  to  the  denominational 
program,  as  these  things  have  provoked  their  rebuke  of  the 
Federation  Movement,  the  leaders  of  which  did  not  deign  to 
take  account  of  the  opinions  of  these  millions  of  Christian 
men  and  women.  The  views  of  the  largest  religious  body  in 
the  South  were  considered  negligible  by  the  makers  of  that 
program.  The  Baptist  program  should  contemplate,  as  a 
large  part  of  our  missionary  task,  the  enlistment  of  every  one 
of  the  volunteer  professors  of  the  Baptist  faith,  and  provide 


126  The  Union  Movement 

for  the  comradeship  of  all  in  the  great  effort  to  subdue  the 
world  to  the  reign  of  Christ.  We  need  the  combined  and  con- 
centrated powers  of  this  mighty  host  upon  the  gigantic  task 
of  taking  the  gospel  message  to  all  the  world.  There  are 
nearly  three  million  white  Baptists  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention.  Unification  and  utilization  of 
these  great  numbers  in  missionary  advance  is  of  vastly  great 
importance  to  evangelical  Christianity.  No  agency,  nor  all 
agencies  of  the  denomination,  can  fulfill  the  Baptist  mission 
without  the  Baptist  people.  Next  to  the  task  of  taking  the 
world  for  Christ,  indeed  having  precedence  over  it,  is  that 
of  getting  our  Baptist  hosts  together  on  this  positive  mis- 
sionary program. 

We  do  not  want  Baptist  platforms  for  special  groups.  We 
should  not  expect  these  hosts  to  get  on  a  platform  which  is 
made  for  a  few.  We  should  not  encourage  factions.  All 
truly  great  Baptists  are  unifying  forces  in  the  denomination 
and  seek  to  rally  all  the  people  to  sound  and  constructive 
lines  of  denominational  life  and  endeavor.  The  man  who 
has  not  a  stronger  passion  for  fellowship  with  the  people  of 
his  own  faith  and  for  union  within  the  r'enomination  than 
he  has  for  these  things  outside  the  denomination  is  not  quali- 
fied for  large  service  in  the  denomination  at  this  time,  how- 
ever sound  he  may  be  in  the  Baptist  faith,  or  however  learned 
he  may  be  in  the  sciences.  The  man  who  thinks  himself  too 
good  a  Baptist  to  cooperate  with  his  brethren  and  he  who 
feels  that  the  Baptist  masses  are  not  his  sort,  are  alike  ab- 
normal types,  and  cannot  be  unifying  forces  in  the  denomi- 
nation. Such  Baptists  remind  one  of  the  old  lady  who  com- 
plained that  all  the  men  in  the  military  drill  were  out  of 
step  except  her  boy  John  I  The  normal  Baptist  finds  it 
natural  and  congenial  to  live  on  terms  of  fellowship  and  in 
cooperation  with  his  Baptist  brethren. 


The  Union  Movement  127 

Every  one  knows  that  many  of  our  members  are  back- 
ward in  their  development.  There  is  no  greater,  more  broth- 
erly or  broad-minded  service  for  great  men  to  render  than 
that  of  so  feeling,  speaking  and  acting  as  to  bring  these  into 
the  fellowship  of  service.  We  shall  need  men  to  work  the 
program  who  have  an  acute  sense  of  sympathy  for  those  who 
have  been  belated  by  circumstances.  Men  who  successfully 
serve  the  denomination  must  have  a  craving  for  the  fellow- 
ship of  all  their  brethren  in  the  larger  life  and  service,  and 
they  will  not  tax  the  confidence  of  these  by  showing  a  closer 
affinity  and  greater  fraternal  consideration  for  others  than 
they  do  for  those  of  their  own  household  of  faith. 

Speaking  generally,  there  has  been  a  faithful  indoctrina- 
tion of  our  people  of  every  section  of  the  South  in  the  Bap- 
tist faith.  Speaking  generally  again,  there  has  been  a  fail- 
ure faithfully  to  indoctrinate  them  concerning  the  Baptist 
work.  There  is  just  as  true  and  just  as  Scriptural  a  doctrine 
of  missions  as  there  is  of  repentance  and  of  the  ordinances. 
The  same  Commission  which  commands  the  teaching  and 
observance  of  the  ordinances  commands  missions.  But  from 
neglect  of  this  fact  there  is  more  conviction  for  scriptural 
ordinances  than  there  is  conscience  for  the  missionary  task. 
Many,  even  of  our  ministers,  show  more  enthusiasm  for 
defending  the  Word  than  they  do  for  supporting  the 
work.  Grounding  in  the  faith  is  good  preparation  for 
great  denominational  achievement,  and  strong  personal  con- 
viction of  the  truth  has  driving  power  for  the  missionary 
enterprise,  when  men  learn  that  the  latter  is  a  sacred  counter- 
part of  the  first.  It  is  the  duty  of  pastors  and  all  other 
leaders  to  give  information  about  our  Baptist  work  to  all 
who  hold  the  Baptist  faith. 

Here  is  suggested  the  leadership  which  is  needed  in  the 
denomination  at  this  time.  We  do  not  need  men  who  aspire 
to  lead  factions,  nor  those  who  are  so  broad  that  they  chafe 


128  The  Union  Movement 

under  denominational  restrictions  and  feel  the  shame  of  Bap- 
tist narrowness,  nor  those  who  play  to  galleries,  high  or  low. 
The  great  need  is  for  men  who  are  sincerely  and  frankly  Bap- 
tist in  their  faith,  brotherly  in  their  spirits,  and  positively 
and  passionately  missionary;  men  who  are  neither  autocrats 
nor  demagogues ;  who  have  courage  and  grace  to  lead  in  great 
tasks,  and  in  doing  so  make  for  peace  and  not  strife  among 
brethren. 

5.  The  cooperation  of  all  American  Baptists  sJiould  "be) 
sought  for  this  denominational  program.  Such  cooperation 
of  the  Baptists  of  all  sections,  including  the  splendid  Cana- 
dian brotherhood,  in  a  worthy  missionary  program,  would 
insure  its  success  and  enable  the  denomination  to  make  its 
largest  contribution  to  Christian  missionary  effort.  There 
are  no  cooperative  possibilities  like  this  for  American  Bap- 
tists, /ti^er-denominational  cooperation,  such  as  that  which 
is  proposed,  puts  the  truth  in  jeopardy,  surrenders  denomi- 
national policies  in  favor  of  federated  policies,  divides  the  de- 
nomination and  dissipates  its  energies ;  while  intra-denomina- 
tional  cooperation  safeguards  our  principles  and  the  mission- 
ary message,  strengthens  the  confidence  of  all  and  unifies  the 
denomination  in  mission  work,  thus  multiplying  its  power 
for  good.  It  would  be  thoroughly  heartening  if  we  could 
indeed  have  a  World  Baptist  Alliance  which  would  guarantee 
the  faithful  delivery  of  the  Baptist  message,  uniform  policies 
and  a  united  brotherhood  on  all  the  mission  fields.  If  spokes- 
men for  the  Baptist  missionary  program  can  be  found  in  all 
sections  of  the  country,  this  ideal  can  be  realized  in  the  case 
of  American  Baptists  at  least.  The  great  majority  of  Amer- 
ican Baptists,  North  and  South,  East  and  West,  hold  a  com- 
mon faith,  and  are  prepared  for  congenial  fellowship  and 
cooperative  service,  whatever  exception  to  this  may  appear 
in  occasional  individual  utterances,  which  in  some  cases  are 
more  significantly  frequent  and  loud  than  representative. 


The  Union  Movement  129 

It  may  be  said  with  confidence  that  the  Baptist  who  repu- 
diates the  recognized  beliefs  and  practices  of  Baptist  churches 
does  not  represent  the  masses  of  Bai>tists,  North  and  South. 
He  speaks  without  authorization,  and  misrepresents  both 
the  history  and  the  rank  and  file  of  his  denomination. 

Baptists,  North  and  South,  we  be  brethren !  We  have  a 
common  faith  to  bind  us,  to  defend  against  common  foes,  and 
to  propagate  among  men  and  women  who  have  great  need 
of  it.  Shall  we  suffer  anybody  to  lead  us  into  lightly  dis- 
claiming our  history  and  acknowledging  indifference  to  the 
things  which  have  made  the  actors  in  that  history  immortal  ? 
Shall  we  capitulate  to  a  missionary  administration  the  ulti- 
mate aim  of  which  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  unconditional 
elimination  of  our  own  and  every  type  of  denominationalism? 
I  trow  not !  Those  who  assume  to  lead  American  Baptists 
of  any  section  into  the  support  of  such  a  program,  will, 
sooner  or  later,  find  that  they  do  not  represent  the  great 
masses  of  our  people  anywhere.  The  question  we  are  facing 
is  not  (we  must  keep  repeating)  one  of  Christian  relation- 
ship. It  is  not  even  one  of  inter-denominational  cooperation. 
The  main  question,  squarely  put  to  Baptists  and  other 
denominations,  is  whether  they  will  be  led  or  forced 
by  a  few  leaders  into  the  surrender  of  their  denominational- 
ism. This  union  program  was  not  made  by  the  denomina- 
tions, nor  by  their  mission  boards,  but  by  a  few^  individuals 
in  their  own  associate  capacity.  It  contradicts  in  many 
respects  the  policies  and  practices  of  every  denomination  in 
America  and  frankly  declares  for  their  abrogation.  Let  Ba}> 
tists,  at  least,  not  be  coerced  nor  abandon  their  own  people  to 
follow  such  leadership.  Those  who  attempt  to  follow  it  will 
undoubtedly  find  that  the  Baptist  masses  will  not  follow 
them.  Let  American  Baptists  stand  together  and  advance 
together.  The  world  is  prepared  for  our  message,  needs  our 
principles  to  safeguard  achievements  in  democracy  and  to 


130  The  Union  Movement 

conserve  the  highest  interests  of  society  and  religion.  The 
heathen  world  needs  a  message  with  all  the  elements  of  the 
gospel  in  it,  and  with  conscience  and  conviction  behind  it. 
The  century-hour  has  struck  for  Baptist  missionary  advance. 
The  present  program  of  a  clamant  Union  Movement  is  as 
sure  to  fail  as  a  pure  and  vigorous  evangelical  Christianity 
survives,  and  vice  versa.  That  Movement  cannot  take  care 
of  the  truth  nor  effect  pure  missionary  ends  without  it.  The 
Movement  has  forced  a  contest  between  itself  and  the  de- 
nominations. Baptists  certainly  ought  to  know  where  to 
cast  their  influence. 

The  call  of  Paul  to  enter  Macedonia  was  not  more  plain, 
more  convincing,  or  more  personal  than  the  call  of  God  to 
American  Baptists  today  to  unite  in  a  great,  constructive, 
and  heroic  Foreign  Mission  campaign.  If  Baptists  of  any 
section  suffer  the  denomination  to  be  divided  and  diverted 
from  the  policies  and  the  work  of  the  denomination  by  an 
extra-denominational  organization  whose  leaders  represent 
themselves  and  strictly  speaking  no  single  denomination  in 
America,  a  great  denominational  blunder  will  be  made,  and 
the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions  will  suffer  seriously.  It  can- 
not be  admitted  in  reason  that  a  movement  which  makes  all 
the  denominations  in  America  contradict  themselves  in  mis- 
sionary policies  at  home  and  abroad,  has  strong  claims  upon 
any  man  who  believes  in  the  history,  the  faith,  the  sincerity 
and  the  consistency  of  his  own  denomination. 

But  dissent  and  mere  defense  will  not  win  the  day.  Noth- 
ing but  a  mighty  offensive  will  save  Baptists  from  defeat  in 
the  present  crisis.  Inter-denominational  missionary  confer- 
ences have  been  held  and  these  have  issued  their  programs. 
Why  should  not  American  Baptists  call  a  Baptist  Missionary 
Conference  of  men  who  in  faith  and  spirit  really  represent 
them?  And  why  should  not  such  a  conference  put  forth  a 
Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Program  for  the  world  which  rep- 


The  Union  Movement  131 

resents  the  historic  faith  and  the  home  policies  of  the  denomi- 
nation ;  which  will  unify  our  vast  numbers,  insure  the  fuller 
and  wider  proclamation  of  our  vital  missionary  message  and 
the  fulfillment  of  the  mission  to  the  world  which  the  posses- 
sion of  such  a  message  implies  and  imposes?  Meanwhile  in- 
•dividual  Baptists  are  challenged  by  Providence  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  hour  to  exercise  themselves  in  prayers, 
pleadings  with  their  fellow  church  members,  personal  work, 
and  large  giving,  to  meet  an  extraordinary  situation,  and  by 
such  devotion  and  sacrifice  to  renew  their  pledge  to  God, 
their  brothers  and  the  workers  on  far-off  mission  fields,  that 
our  witness  shall  not  fail  until  Christ  is  made  known  to  the 
last  man  of  the  long-neglected  millions  of  our  lost  brothers. 


132  The  Union  Movement 

ADDENDA. 

No.  I. 

The  following  is  a  digest  of  an  article  by  Dr.  Jolin  Fox, 
of  New  York,  first  published  in  the  Princeton  Theological 
Review,  for  October,  1916,  under  the  title,  "Christian  Unity, 
Church  Unity  and  the  Panama  Congress."  Dr.  Fox  is  a  dis- 
tinguished Presbyterian  minister.  Corresponding  Secretary 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  a  man  of  liberal  scholarship, 
and,  as  his  official  position  would  indicate,  a  man  of  large 
Christian  relationships.  Moreover,  he  speaks  from  close  ob- 
servation of  the  Movement  and  from  intimate  personal  knowl- 
edge of  the  conduct  of  the  Congress  itself,  having  attended 
and  participated  in  it.  The  article  came  into  our  hands  after 
the  preceding  pages  were  written,  and  we  sincerely  regret 
that  the  limits  fixed  for  this  book  require  us  to  omit  valuable 
parts  of  it.  Dr.  Fox  knows  nothing  of  the  contents  of  this 
book,  is  in  no  way  responsible  for  anything  in  it.  Moreover, 
to  prevent  possible  misunderstanding,  it  should  be  said  that 
he  expressed  his  personal  views  in  the  article  and  did  not 
claim  to  represent  either  his  colleagues  or  the  Board  of  Man- 
agers of  the  American  Bible  Society. 

Christian  Unity^  Church  Unity,  and  the 
Panama  Congress. 

By    Rev.    John    Fox,    D.D.,    New   York. 

A  considerable  number  of  missionaries  and  others,  some  of  the 
first  rank,  did  not  like  the  manner  in  which  the  preparations  of 
the  Conference  had  been  managed  and  still  retained  a  conviction 
that  the  Edinburgh  Conference  had  shirked  its  duty  as  to  Roman- 
ism by   excluding  them  from   full  participation  in   its  discussion. 


The  Union  Movement  133 

Along  with  them  there  was  a  still  more  important  body  of  native 
ministers  in  Latin-America  who  felt  dissatisfied,  and  said  so,  and 
said  further  that  many  of  their  brethren  would  not  come  at  all 
for  that  reason.  They  were  probably  not  much  mollified  by  the 
methods  of  procedure  adopted  by  the  Congress.  The  personnel  of 
the  Business  Committee,  the  officers  of  the  Congress,  and  the  scope 
of  their  powers  were  all  pre-determined  by  a  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments in  New  York. 

By  these  arrangements  no  man  or  woman  could  offer  any  motion 
or  amendment  whatever  on  the  floor  of  the  Congress.  It  must  first 
be  offered  to  the  Business  Committee,  and  only  the  consent  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  Committee  of  twenty-five  (picked  out  in  advance  in 
New  York)  could  bring  it  to  the  floor.  Nor  was  the  Business  Com- 
mittee required  to  report  at  the  end  of  the  Congress  what  papers 
or  proposals  had  been  submitted  to  it  and  rejected.  A  proposal  to 
require  this  was  rejected.  There  were  at  least  three  papers  of  im- 
portance presented  which  were  thus  decently  buried  in  Committee, 
and   the   fact   of   their   rejection   never   reported    to   the   Congress. 

The  admirable  and  much  beloved  chairman  of  the  Congress  was 
given  final  power  to  decide  every  question  of  order  without  appeal 
to  the  House.  Only  his  unique  personal  attractions  made  this  even 
tolerable. 

Then  another  singular  provision  must  be  mentioned.  The  eight 
long  Reports  of  Commissions,  referred  to  above,  were  presented. 
These  Commissions  consisted  of  about  twenty-five  persons  each, 
scattered  widely,  who  for  a  year  or  more  past  have  been  preparing 
their  reports.  Without  discussing  the  methods  pursued  by  them 
privately,  the  reports  all  printed,  making  something  like  800  pages 
of  a  fair-sized  book,  absorbed  most  of  the  time  of  the  Congress  dur- 
ing its  business  sessions.  The  chairman  of  each  Commission,  or 
whoever  he  selected,  had  forty-five  minutes  to  defend  their  position 
and  "findings;"  but  all  other  speakers  were  limited  to  seven 
minutes,  which  as  time  lessened  became  five  or  less.  They  had  also 
to  signify  in  writing  their  intention  of  speaking  by  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  of  the  day  previous.  This  killed  real  debate.  A  man 
might  ask  to  speak  in  the  course  of  the  debate,  in  writing,  but  it 
was  left  with  the  chairman  to  decide  whether  he  should  speak  or 
not. 

When  all  these  particulars  are  stated,  nine  men  out  of  ten  would 
say  what  has  been  said  very  sharply  since  the  Congress  adjourned. 


134  The  Union  Movement 

that  it  was  a  clear  case  of  the  "steam  roller."  Considered  as  a 
method  governing  a  large  body,  the  steam  roller  has  the  merit  of 
quick  despatch  of  business  and  the  easy  suppression  of  cranks.  The 
spirit  and  intention  of  this  procedure  was  far  removed  from  un- 
brotherly  discourtesy.  On  the  contrary,  the  steam  roller  was  man- 
aged with  such  courtesy,  gentleness,  and  skill,  that  it  was  almost 
a  pleasure  to  be  thus  rolled  over.  Dr.  Speer  and  Dr.  Mott  both  did 
all  in  their  power  to  make  the  process  agreeable.  One  felt  in  the 
air  a  vague  spiritual  chloroform.  Those  known  to  disagree  with 
the  Business  Committee  were  invited  to  sit  with  it  and  given  full 
liberties  of  debate.  But  usually  nothing  came  of  it.  What  was  to 
be  done  was  virtually  settled  in  advance  by  "the  real  heart  of  the 
organism"  (The  Business  Committee).  A  Roman  Catholic  visitor 
might  have  smiled  -to  see  these  Protestants  or  "Evangelicals"  ap- 
parently adopting  a  thoroughly  Papal  method  of  procedure  and 
wondered  whether  it  was  intended  as  a  compliment  to  Rome. 

Let  it  be  said  that  there  is  some  precedent  for  the  un-democratic, 
un-American,  un-Protestant  character  of  the  method  of  procedure 
above  outlined,  but  it  takes  more  than  precedent  to  justify  what 
is  always  inherently  wrong.  The  fact  that  this,  or  something  worse 
was  done  at  Edinburgh,  does  not  either  justify  or  sanctify  it.  The 
Congress  threw  away  its  proper  opportunity  to  say,  not  with  bitter 
vituperation,  but  with  calm,  grave  simplicity  and  strength,  what 
ought  to  have  been  said  not  only  as  to  Romanism,  but  as  to  rational- 
ism. They  are  the  twin  evils  which  we  confront  in  Latin-America 
today.  The  Congress,  as  a  whole,  said  nothing  about  either.  It 
was  an  army  without  a  flag  or  a  bugle. 

Dr.  Beach  glows  with  enthusiasm  over  it: 

"Indeed,  the  Congress  was  permeated  with  the  Zeitgeist  and 
tingled  with  the  Oeistesdrang  of  this  epochal-period  in  the  evolution 
of  the  missionary  enterprise.  It  was  the  rich  air  of  recent  advance 
in  the  science  of  missions  and  burned  with  the  ardor  which  the 
impelling  spirit  of  Unity  and  Cooperation  is  imparting  in  these 
latter  days." 

No  one  could  sit  through  the  Conference  and  carry  away  any 
ather  impression  than  that  the  conclusions  reached  were  not  to  be 
lightly  set  aside,  but  bore  a  kind  of  general  imprimatur,  somewhat 
as  the  finding  of  a  grand  jury  does  to  a  petit  jury.  There  was  "a 
case"  and  a  "true  bill" — a  very  effective  way  to  get  a  thing  done. 


The  Union  Movement  135 

On  the  last  day  of  the  session,  the  Business  Committee  proposed 
a  series  of  resolutions  re-constituting  and  enlarging  the  Committee 
on  Cooperation  in  Latin-America.   The  sixth  section  reads  as  follows: 

"That  the  American  and  Canadian  Section  should  take  steps  as 
promptly  as  possible  to  give  effect  to  the  findings  of  the  various 
Commissions  in  the  light  of  the  discussions  of  the  Congress,  so  far 
as  the  cooperation  of  the  missionary  agencies  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada  is  concerned." 

"To  give  effect  to  the  Findings"  certainly  means  that  these  Find- 
ings were  to  be  treated  as  possessing  the  weight  and  obligation  com- 
ing from  so  distinguished  and  expert  a  body  of  men  and  women; 
but  these  Findings  were  not  voted  on  and  under  the  rules  could 
not  be  adequately  and  properly  discussed. 

Such  a  "Continuation  Committee"  and  the  powers  with  which 
it  is  clothed  foreshadow  a  missionary  policy  for  the  churches. 

After  dwelling  on  the  eminence  and  ability  of  the  missionary 
leaders  who  were  present,  it  is  finally  declared:  "This  lends  great 
weight  to  their  conclusions  and  possibly  even  greater  than  were 
these  the  official  deliverances  of  legislative  and  ecclesiastical  todies.^* 
[Italics  ours.] 

The  great  value  of  many  of  the  detailed  suggestions  on  the 
immense  variety  of  subjects  included  in  the  Findings  of  these 
Committees  ought  not  to  blind  us  to  the  fact  that  we  have  here 
a  genuine  imperium  in  imperio,  a  wonderfully  constructed  piece 
of  quasi-ecclesiasticism  erected  in  the  very  midst  of  the  ordinary 
ecclesiastical  machinery  which  is  supposed  to  control  Missions  and 
Missionary-made  Churches.  It  indirectly  has  a  powerful  effect  on 
the  churches  from  which  these  Missions  originally  proceeded.  It 
is  all  the  more  effective  as  its  true  character  is  not  avowed  and 
we  believe  is  not  thoroughly  realized  by  its  projectors  and  pro- 
moters. It  is  a  growth,  the  inevitable  effort  of  a  certain  tendency 
in  missionary  activity,  a  Geistesdrang,  as  Dr.  Beach  says.  Its  final 
effect,  if  consistently  carried  out,  is  the  reshaping  and  reorganizing 
of  all  missions  which  accept  its  spirit  and  method  based  on  one 
comprehensive  general  principle,  namely  inter-denominational  co- 
operation leading  toward  and  in  many  cases  distinctly  aiming  at 
the  attainment  of  church  unity  as  distinguished  from  the  more  gen- 
eral concept  of  Christian  unity  in  the  older  usage  of  that  term. 
This  comes  out  very  clearly  in  the  reports,  first,  of  Commission 
Number  VIII  on  Cooperation  and  the  Promotion  of  Unity,  and  even 


136  The  Union  Movement 

more  clearly  in  the  subsequent  reports  of  the  twenty-one  Conferences 
above  named. 

It  is  pretty  plain  that  for  the  most  part  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee's ideal  begins  with  Cooperation,  continues  with  Federation 
and  ends  with  Unification.  It  aims  to  bring  first  the  missionary 
organizations  at  work  in  the  field  and  then  the  churches  which  they 
represent  into  some  kind  of  strange  huge  organism,  which  all  shall 
recognize  as  supreme. 

Should  we  throw  down  denominational  lines  altogether  and  make 
one  great  comprehensive  Protestant  or  "Evangelical"  Church?  What 
kind  of  a  creed,  polity,  cultus  will  such  a  church,  if  organized,  have 
and  hold?  What  guarantees  can  we  give  to  believers  in  the  doc- 
trines of  grace  and  devout  lovers  of  the  Bible  as  an  infallible  book 
that  the  plagues  of  modern  Protestant  Rationalism  will  not  be  added 
to  the^  plague  of  Roman  Ritualism  in  the  newly  planted  churches, 
or  in  the  "unified"  church,  such  as  Dr.  Brown  so  stoutly  argues 
there  ought  to  be?  In  a  word,  Protestant  Christendom  came  fairly 
face  to  face  on  that 

"Narrow  neck  of  land, 
'Twixt  two  unbounded  seas" 

with  the  whole  matter  of  the  unity  of  Christ's  Church  in  the  pecu- 
liar environment  of  Latin-America.  It  was  "proved  with  hard 
questions." 

In  answering  such  questions  large  powers  were  put  into  the 
hands  of  a  comparatively  few  persons  who  shaped  the  general  policy 
for  the  whole  body  of  cooperating  churches  in  a  given  direction, 
just  as  the  Edinburgh  Conference  did.  The  Panama  Congress  thus 
became  a  spoke  in  the  wheel,  a  wheel  revolving  with  ever  increasing 
momentum  in  the  direction  of  unity,  not  unity  in  the  broader  sense 
but  in  the  narrower  and  more  technical  sense  of  an  organic  unifica- 
tion of  Protestant  Christendom,  with  re-union  with  Rome  as  pos- 
sible in  the  future.  Formal  proof  of  this  statement  would  require 
us  to  traverse  with  great  care  the  reports  of  the  Eight  Commissions 
and  especially  their  "Findings;"  but  their  general  tenor  is  unmis- 
takable. The  whole  temper  of  the  rulers  and  leaders  of  the  Con- 
gress was  to  touch  far  too  lightly  on  Protestant  affirmations. 

Here,  then,  was  the  situation — an  attitude  of  timidity  before  the 
unabated  claims  of  the  Roman  power,  a  tolerant,  doubtful — with 
some  an  approving — attitude  to  amendments  to  the  Bible  proposed 


The  Union  Movement  137 

by  the  modern  critics.  Is  this  really  the  message  that  Latin-America 
needs?  Do  we  propose  to  nail  this  thesis  upon  the  church  door  as 
an  addition  to  the  ninety-five  theses  that  Luther  put  there? 

This  regrettable  situation  comes  about  not  by  direct  intention 
but  as  part  of  the  modern  shrinking  from  clear  and  discriminating 
doctrinal  affirmations  and  from  the  strange  perversion  of  Christ's 
high  priestly  prayer  by  the  assumption  that  in  order  to  attain  unity 
of  external  organization  we  may  wrap  in  a  napkin  and  lay  away 
the  Lord's  talent  of  divine  truth  committed  to  us.  It  all  falls  in 
with  much  that  is  in  the  highest  degree  popular.  The  Zeigeist  and 
the  Geistesclrang  is  a  compound  made  up  of  enthusiasm  for  missions 
on  the  one  hand  and  enthusiasm  for  a  minimized  gospel  or  a  false 
gospel  on  the  other.  Dr.  Beach  speaks  with  disapproval  of  "hyper 
evangelicals."  In  the  Panama  dialect  this  means  "Hyper  Protes- 
tants." But  a  watered  down  Protestantism  soon  ceases  to  be  evan- 
gelical. 

We  are  constantly  bidden  nowadays  to  "think  in  Continents." 
How  little  regard  is  paid  to  the  great  Continent  of  thought!  This 
was  true  at  Panama.  Speaking  quite  broadly  and  making  due  allow- 
ance for  exceptions,  its  key-note  was  unity  by  minimizing  the  doc- 
trinal and  ecclesiastical  differences  between  the  various  members 
of  the  Protestant  group  of  churches  and  on  the  ground  of  mission- 
ary expediency  aiming  at  the  abolition  of  these  differences  by 
largely  ignoring  them  and,  with  at  least  a  part  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Congress,  a  distinct  purpose  of  doing  the  same  thing  as  to  the 
graver  differences  that  separate  us  from  Rome.  This  unity  which 
Dr.  Brown  and  others  are  demanding  is  to  be  brought  about  not 
by  the  orderly  process  of  an  approach  by  the  official  authorities  of 
each  denomination  to  other  churches,  but  by  special  "movements" 
seizing  the  existing  machinery  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards  and  their 
elaborate  subsidiary  organizations,  and  using  them  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  about  first  cooperation  and  finally  organic  union  by  in- 
genious indirection.  First  insist  on  organic  union  on  the  great 
mission  fields  and  then  cry  out  against  the  conservatism  of  any 
Mission  Board  or  any  denomination  that  hangs  out  against  it.  It 
was  almost  amusing  to  see  the  confidence  with  which  brethren  dis- 
posed of  difficulties  over  which  a  Luther  or  a  Calvin  would  have 
sweat  blood.  The  Anglican  communion  and  its  counterpart  on  this 
side  of  the  sea,  the  Confessional  Lutheran  Churches,  the  Pan-Presby- 
terian family,  Methodism  with  its  splendid  organization,  the  Inde- 


138  The  Union  Movement 

pendent,  Congregational  and  Baptist  Churches — these  are  not  fungus 
growths  or  flowers  that  bloom  in  the  spring;  they  are  giant  oaks, 
hardy  mountain  pines,  cedars  of  Lebanon.  They  have  their  roots 
of  doctrinal  conviction,  ordered  government,  devotional  habit.  It 
is  hard  to  see  how  any  one  can  seriously  believe  that  they  can  be 
picked  up  and  clapped  together  by  a  Business  Committee  or  a  Con- 
gress, or  a  hundred  Congresses.  Before  the  goal  is  reached  the 
people  will  have  something  to  say  about  whether  they  are  to  give 
up  things  which  they  believe  and  love  with  all  their  hearts  because 
a  Continuation  Committee  or  a  concatenated  jungle  of  similar  com- 
mittees imagines  that  it  can  be  done.  One  of  the  most  admired  of 
Baptist  secretaries  declared  with  burning  earnestness:  "the  tap 
root  of  Romanism  is  infant  baptism,"  his  hand  resting  almost  on 
the  shoulder  of  an  equally  esteemed  and  beloved  brother,  a  Bishop 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  the  expression  of  whose  coun- 
tenance at  this  startling  declaration  deserved  to  be  preserved  as  a 
souvenir  of  the  Congress.  How  could  these  two  brethren,  no  mat- 
ter how  much  they  love  and  respect  each  other,  honestly  join  in 
conducting  a  Union  Theological  Semimry  in  which  Baptism,  its 
nature,  mode  and  subject  could  be  discussed.  The  Calvinistic 
Churches  love  their  Arminian  allies  as  brethren  and  know  well 
there  is  much  they  can  learn  from  them;  but  how  foolish  it  is  to 
pretend  that  they  are  not  divided  as  to  some  very  important  ques- 
tions. 

With  the  utmost  sincerity  we  pay  our  tribute  of  admiration  to 
Dr.  John  R.  Mott  and  Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  our  fellow  presbyter. 
May  their  tribe  increase.  Dr.  Mott's  public  honors  are  well  de- 
served. Dr.  Speer's  praise  is  in  all  the  churches,  so  is  that  of  Dr. 
Arthur  J.  Brown,  and  a  hundred  others;  but  what  they  now  propose 
is  to  achieve  the  impossible.  Christ  has  made  it  impossible  to  have 
unity  without  the  truth  and  the  blessed  ministry  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
by  and  through  the  truth.  Let  us  be  content  to  walk  in  His  way, 
and  not  choose  our  own  paths. 

Let  all  ministers,  missionaries.  Congresses  and  Assemblies  learn 
that  there  is  no  other  road  to  the  best  cooperation  and  the  only 
real  Unity  than  an  absolute  fidelity  to  the  truth  as  God  gives  us 
to    see    it,    mixed    plentifully    with    humility    and    brotherly    love. 


The  Union  Movement  139 

No.  II. 

The  following  article  by  Bishop  Warren  A.  Candler  ap- 
peared in  an  Atlanta  daily  paper,  the  Journal.  Dr.  Fox  and 
Bishop  Candler,  one  a  Northern  Presbyterian  and  the  other  a 
Southern  Methodist,  are  examples  of  many  men  of  large  in- 
fluence who  are  viewing  this  Movement  with  deep  concern. 
Like  Dr.  Fox,  Bishop  Candler  knows  nothing  of  the  contents 
of  this  book.  They  certainly  would  not  endorse  much  that  is 
said  here  in  exposition  and  defense  of  Baptist  views,  a  fact 
which  suggests  the  impracticableness  and  immaturity  of 
present  federation.  Bishop  Candler  speaks  for  himself  and 
cannot  be  held  responsible  for  anything  contained  in  the 
book  except  his  own  utterances.  The  observations  of  these 
two  distinguished  men  show  a  rising  tide  of  sentiment  with 
which  all  wise  men  will  reckon. 

Taking  Away  the  Freedom  op  the  Churches. 
By  Bishop  W.  A.  Candler,  in  Atlanta  Journal. 

(The  following  article  expresses  convictions  whicli  are  becoming 
prevalent  and  which  are  pressing  to  the  front  for  discussion.) 

The  churches  of  our  country  are  suffering  from  a  multiplied 
number  of  parasitic  organizations,  which  are  sapping  their  freedom 
and  sucking  their  funds.  These  parasitic  bodies  emphasize  their 
inter-denominational  character  and  prate  much  about  what  they 
call,  with  misleading  pretence  of  charity  and  broad-mindedness, 
"Christian  unity."  By  their  very  nature  they  have  to  assume  an 
inter-denominational  attitude;  for  one  church  would  not  be  enough 
to  satisfy  their  cravings  for  power  and  their  lust  for  funds.  More- 
over, such  an  attitude  appeals  to  the  support  of  that  class  of  mis- 
taken minds  who  dislike  all  churches,  and  yet  wish  to  preserve 
some  sort  of  semblance  of  devotion  to  Christianity — the  class  of 
men  who  profess  great  breadth  of  view  and  have  no  depth  of  con- 
viction, and  who  mistake  vagueness  for  virtue. 


140  The  Union  Movement 

These  parasitic  organizations  might  be  called  syndicates  of 
syncretists,  but  in  many  instances  they  are  too  small  to  be  called 
syndicates,  and  wholly  unworthy  of  being  dignified  with  the  name 
of  syncretists.  Yet  they  remind  one  of  the  syncretists  who  operated 
in  the  Grseca-Roman  world  during  the  first  century  of  the  Christian 
era.  Like  the  syncretists  of  that  age,  they  have  a  certain  skill  in 
the  making  of  mosaic  creeds  out  of  all  sorts  of  fragments  of  belief, 
and  their  religion  presents  the  appearance  of  a  Joseph's  coat  of 
many  colors.  They  imitate  the  shallow-minded  pro-consul,  Gellius, 
who  invited  the  rival  philosophers  of  Athens  to  come  to  terms,  offer- 
ing himself  as  arbiter  entirely  competent  to  pass  upon  and  settle 
their  differences  of  belief.  In  like  manner  the  committees  of  these 
parasitic  organizations  constitute  themselves  as  councils  to  conciliate 
all  the  churches,  and  then  control  the  bodies  which  they  have  con- 
ciliated. 

They  are  thoroughly  worldly  in  their  spirit  and  methods,  mimick- 
ing "big  business"  and  appropriating  its  pompous  phraseology.  They 
rely  on  combinations  to  convert  the  world  rather  than  upon  Christ's 
power,  and  the  consecration  of  the  saints  to  His  service.  Such 
methods  fall  in  well  with  a  commercial  age,  in  which  "trusts"  and 
syndicates  abound,  defying  the  laws  of  both  God  and  man.  But 
these  methods  are  most  tyrannical  whenever  they  can  be,  and  are 
injurious  always. 

Like  the  men  of  "big  business,"  they  claim  that  their  organiza- 
tions "save  waste"  and  "conserve  energy;"  but  whatever  may  be 
the  justice  of  such  a  claim  when  made  by  the  men  of  "big  busi- 
ness," it  is  wholly  groundless  when  put  forth  by  the  men  of  these 
parasitic  organizations.  They  make  waste,  and  they  enfeeble  energy. 
They  hold  manifold  conventions  of  the  most  useless  and  expensive 
sort,  and  thereby  induce  the  churches  to  pay  for  their  junketing 
journeys.  In  summer  the  mountains  are  filled  with  their  meet- 
ings, and  at  other  seasons  they  fly  here  and  there  like  birds  of 
passage,  now  sailing  over  sunlit  seas,  beyond  the  chilling  blasts  of 
winter,  or  assembling  at  resorts,  which  otherwise  they  could  never 
visit.  Their  offices,  secretaries,  stenographers  and  printers'  bills 
are  even  more  expensive  than  their  journeys  over  land  and  sea,  and 
the  funds  required  for  these  expenses  are  drawn  from  the  churches 
to  whom  they  assume  to  dictate  plans  and  policies. 

They  carefully  and  frequently  assert  that  their  functions  are 
only  "advisory"  to  the  churches,  and  that  they  have  no  legislative 


The  Union  Movement  141 

authority,  but  this  assertion  must  be  taken  with  many  degrees  of 
allowance  and  considerable  (jualification.  These  parasitic  bodies 
aspire  to  exercise  a  sort  of  overlordship  over  the  churches,  and  they 
realize  this  ambitious  aspiration  whenever  and  wherever  they  can. 

With  respect  to  some  interests,  a  number  of  the  churches  have 
become  mere  appanages  of  the  organizations  of  overlords;  the  ter- 
ritory in  which  they  do  missionary  work,  for  example,  is  delimited 
for  them  by  the  overlords,  and  the  mission  fields  are  marked  off 
with  corn-row  processes.  A  Methodist  Board  of  Missions  may  not 
operate  in  one  area,  while  a  Baptist  Board  may  not  labor  in  another, 
and  a  Presbyterian  Board  may  not  plant  churches  in  still  another. 

If,  under  providential  constraint,  a  Methodist  convert  removes 
to  the  region  occupied  by  the  Baptists,  he  must  change  his  church 
connection,  or  have  none  at  all,  and,  in  turn,  if  a  Baptist,  for  any 
cause,  takes  up  residence  in  the  area  in  which  the  Methodists 
operate,  he  must  change  his  faith  or  have  no  church  membership 
there.  Can  faith  be  other  than  feeble  when  it  thus  conforms  to  the 
character  of  the  chameleon?    Hardly. 

In  the  interest  of  the  freedom  of  the  faith,  and  the  sincerity  of 
faith,  it  is  time  for  the  churches  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  these 
overlords.  Otherwise,  our  Christianity  will  become  colorless  and 
characterless. 

Strength  of  character,  in  both  individuals  and  churches,  is  in 
direct  proportion  to  strength  and  definiteness  of  conviction.  Merger, 
in  which  men  renounce  their  convictions,  results  in  nothing  better 
than  forceless  fusions.  Good  men  and  great  men  cannot  be  made 
by  any  such  process.  Power  for  the  highest  and  best  service  is  not 
secured  by  throwing  overboard  principles.  The  zealous  advocate 
for  truth  and  right,  as  he  sees  it,  is  the  good  man,  and  the  sincere 
man;  and  God  wants  such  men  for  the  work  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven;  He  cannot  use  men  who  believe  nothing,  or  who  care  little 
for  what  they  believe. 

If  the  process  of  agglomeration,  under  the  pressure  of  the  over- 
lords of  the  churches,  continues  much  longer,  the  outcome  will  be 
an  almost  worthless  amalgam  in  the  home  fields,  and  the  reproduc- 
tion of  the  same  type  in  the  foreign  field.  In  the  end,  that  may 
mean  a  convictionless  and  compromise  Christianity  in  what  are 
now  heathen  lands  which  future  generations  will  have  to  reform  at 
great  expense  and  with  much  difficulty. 


142  The  Union  Movement 

For  every  purpose  of  a  wise  and  brotherly  cooperation  the 
churches  of  our  country  can  deal  with  one  another  directly  far  bet- 
ter than  through  the  mediation  of  the  parasitic  organizations  which 
sap  their  freedom  and  suck  their  funds.  Christian  brotherhood  and 
comity  can  be  had  without  submitting  the  churches  to  the  control 
of  overlording  bodies.  No  anti-denominational  and  self-constituted 
league  of  peace  is  necessary  to  constrain  the  churches  to  mutual 
love  and  respect. 


No.  III. 
Voices  from  the  Dead  to  the  Living. 

In  this  hour  when  strange  voices  are  calling  American 
Baptists  away  from  principles  and  policies  in  the  strength 
of  which  they  have  achieved  their  successes  and  conferred 
their  largest  benefits  upon  the  world,  their  leaders  may  well 
heed  voices  which  speak  to  them  from  the  dead  in  the  follow- 
ing quotations.  J.  M.  Frost,  William  E.  Hatcher^  Edward 
Bright,  and  George  Dana  Boardman  will  be  considered  as 
worthy  representatives  of  the  faith  of  American  Baptists, 
North  and  South,  during  the  past  generation.  The  first 
served  his  denomination  for  more  than  a  score  of  years  as  the 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Sunday  School  Board  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention;  the  second,  as  pastor,  writer 
and  popular  denominational  speaker;  the  third,  as  the  hon- 
ored and  distinguished  editor  of  the  New  York  Examiner; 
the  fourth,  the  son  of  a  missionary,  as  pastor  of  the  First 
Baptist  Churchy  Philadelphia,  and  an  accomplished  contribu- 
tor to  the  literature  of  the  denomination.  Neither  of  these 
great  men  was  the  leader  of  a  faction,  nor  the  spokesman  of 
any  particular  class  or  section.  They  were  truly  representa- 
tive Baptists  and  unifying  forces  and  constructive  factors 
in  the  life  of  their  people. 


The  Union  Movement  143 

Dr.  J.  M.  Frost: 

"You  will  never  lose  anything  in  all  your  perplexing  problems 
by  staying  close  to  our  denominational  policies." 

Dr.  Wiluam  E.  Hatcher: 

"Let  Baptists  stand  as  those  who  do  not  doubt.  They  must  not 
be  pushed  off  their  ground  by  the  rush  of  the  crowd.  Let  them  co- 
operate to  the  limit  of  their  ability,  but  let  them  not  sacrifice  the 
truth  in  order  to  go  with  the  multitude.  If  their  contention  is 
true,  it  cannot  be  displeasing  to  their  Lord,  and  if  they  must  suffer 
in  order  to  be  true,  let  them  be  true  and  rejoice  that  they  are 
counted  worthy  to  suffer." 

Dr.  Edward  Bright: 

At  the  close  of  the  first  fifty  years  of  the  American  Baptist  For- 
eign Mission  Society,  Dr.  Edward  Bright,  the  distinguished  and 
long-time  editor  of  the  Examiner,  New  York,  offered  the  following 
resolution  to  the  Missionary  Union,  now  the  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Northern  Baptist  Convention:  ''Resolved,  That  at  the  end  of 
this  first  fifty  years  of  our  American  Baptist  missionary  operations, 
this  Missionary  Union  gives  it  as  their  deliberate  opinion  that  Amer- 
ican Baptists  have  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  their  principles, 
their  ministry,  their  membership,  or  their  work,  and  that  in  view 
of  the  fruits  of  the  past  and  the  promise  of  the  future,  they  have 
every  reason  to  stand  by  their  principles  with  new  firmness  and 
new  hope." 

George  Dana  Boardman: 

"Unity  cannot  be  secured  by  compromise.  This  is  the  mistake 
of  those  unfortunates  who  are  afflicted  with  cardiac  hypertrophy 
or  diseased  enlargement  of  the  heart.  Compromise  is  often  right 
in  matters  of  polity  and  method.  Compromise  is  always  wrong  in 
matters  of  principle  or  duty.  Truth  abhors  compromise  as  light 
abhors  darkness.  Truth  advances  her  kingdom  by  affirmation,  not 
by  evasion;  by  victory,  not  by  surrender.  The  man  who  is  willing 
to  surrender  his  own  convictions  for  the  sake  of  "unity"  is  a  man 
whose  convictions  for  the  sake  of  unity  or  anything  else,  are  to 
be  distrusted.  For  he  who  begins  by  being  false  to  himself  will 
end  with  being  false  to  everybody  else.  Moreover,  the  unity  which 
is  brought  about  by  compromise  is  not  unity  at  all;  it  is  only  a 
weak,  sentimental,  flabby  uniformity." 


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tist (Paper,  15c)  $  .25 

Spiritual  Farming 50 

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